BRIEFING – Countering Authoritarian Abuse of INTERPOL

On Tuesday, October 29^th, GYH Managing Partner Sandra Grossman and Of Counsels Dr. Ted Bromund and Charlie Magri testified at briefing before the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (the “U.S. Helsinki Commission”) on the topic of autocratic abuse of INTERPOL.

In 2021, the Helsinki Commission led the introduction and passage of the Transnational Repression Accountability and Prevention (TRAP) Act to tackle authoritarian abuse of INTERPOL. The law required the executive branch to file periodic reports on its efforts to stem this abuse by enacting domestic safeguards and promoting reforms at INTERPOL headquarters. For the first time, it legally prohibited U.S. agencies from extraditing individuals solely based on INTERPOL communications.

This briefing evaluated the current state of politically motivated abuses of INTERPOL, U.S. efforts to implement the TRAP Act three years after passage, and prospects for further action to address INTERPOL abuse.

View a full recording HERE