French anti-terror prosecutors have opened a preliminary inquiry into torture and acts of barbarism allegedly committed by Emirati General Ahmed Nasser al-Raisi who in November last year became president of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), judicial sources said on Thursday.
The probe follows a legal complaint by a non-governmental organization that accused al-Raisi of being responsible for the torture of an opposition figure in his role as senior official at the Emirati Ministry of the Interior.
The Gulf Centre for Human Rights — holding al-Raisi responsible for inhumane treatment of Ahmed Mansoor, an opponent of the Emirati government — lodged its complaint in January with the anti-terror prosecutors’ unit, whose brief includes handling crimes against humanity.
Photo: AFP
Allegations of torture had already been leveled at al-Raisi by human rights organizations when he ran for Interpol president, saying that they feared the agency would be at risk of exploitation by repressive regimes.
He was nevertheless voted in as president, following generous funding from the United Arab Emirates for the Lyon, France-based body.
There were also accusations that Abu Dhabi had abused Interpol’s system of so-called “red notices” for wanted suspects to persecute political dissidents.
William Bourdon, a high-profile lawyer for the human rights group, said it was “totally incomprehensible” that the prosecutors had not immediately ordered al-Raisi’s arrest, which “they should have done given that he is in France.”
The accusations were a sufficient motive to lift al-Raisi’s diplomatic immunity which he enjoys thanks to an agreement between the French state and Interpol, Bourdon said.
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