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Leon Neal / AFP - Getty Images, file
Benny Wenda, leader of the West Papuan Independence Movement, attends a protest in London on April 15, 2010.
LONDON -- Global policing body Interpol has dropped a wanted notice for an Indonesian dissident after authorities ruled the case against him was “predominantly political in nature.”
Benny Wenda, who campaigns for his native West Papua to become independent from Indonesia, was convicted of inciting people to attack a police station and an arson attack that resulted in several deaths. However, he escaped from prison while awaiting sentence in 2002.
Wenda later arrived in the U.K. and successfully claimed political asylum, arguing that the case against him was a fabrication designed to stop his political activities.
Earlier this year, NBCNews.com reported that Interpol had issued a “red notice” for him, which alerts law enforcement agencies worldwide that he is wanted by an Interpol member state. Some countries treat red notices as an arrest warrant, but the U.K. took no steps to detain Wenda.
Interpol faces legal threat for helping oppressive regimes hunt dissidents
In a letter to campaign group Fair Trials International, the Commission for the Control of Interpol’s Files admitted the case against Wenda was “predominantly political in nature” and said Interpol had deleted the red notice.
“Interpol should be used to fight serious crime but Indonesia has been misusing it to threaten a peaceful political activist,” Jago Russell, chief executive of Fair Trials International, was quoted as saying in a statement. “We are delighted that Interpol has now woken up to this abuse but Benny’s case is not unique and safeguards are needed to stop other countries misusing Interpol and destroying lives and reputations in the process.”
Wanted activist Benny Wenda tells of 'bows and arrows' revolt
The statement said that while the red notice was active Wenda had been “unable to travel to attend campaign events to promote his cause” because of the risk of arrest.
A report by the Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic at the Yale Law School in 2003 found that "the West Papuan people have suffered persistent and horrible abuses" at the hands of the Indonesian government since the area was annexed by Indonesia in 1969.
It also accused Indonesian military and security forces of engaging in "widespread violence and extrajudicial killings."
Human Rights Watch's World Report 2012 said that the U.S. provides "extensive military assistance to Indonesia" and added that "impunity for members of Indonesia’s security forces remains a serious concern, with no civilian jurisdiction over soldiers who commit serious human rights abuses."
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Leave a Comment:
americatheploicestate: Are you writing this from Iran? Yes, I do agree that that YOU are in the DARK about most THINGS, your editorial proves that!
It is a sad state of affairs when an organization created to uphold justice is instead used to pervert it. One sure-fire way to fix this problem is to expel these offending countries until they clean up their acts, and ignore any warrant requests unless they are closely scrutinized by a transparent panel to prevent abuse.
Interpol was founded in the 1920's in Austria. From 1938 to 1945, the presidents of Interpol included Otto Steinhäusl, Reinhard Heydrich, Arthur Nebe, and Ernst Kaltenbrunner. If you don't know who these people are, then please Google them. It is a fascist organization from it's earliest roots.
Funny how you confuse history Sarge...Interpol was founded BEFORE the Nazis, and was NOT a fascist organization, any more than France, Denmark, Norway et al became fascist just because they were unwillingly taken over by that regime.
Interpol is a law enforcement tool, which in the wrong hands can be abused. It's up to every responsible stakeholder to minimize that risk.
No, I'm not confused at all. My knowledge of history is extensive. Fascism, and fascist movements were strong in Europe long before the Nazi takeover in Germany. Interpol is fascist in it's roots. It operates in a fascist manner today. The organization really got organised in it's present form under the leadership of Heydrich, a brilliant organizer whose system of intelligence gathering and cross referenced files paralleled what J.Edgar Hoover had done in the US.
That's a good idea, makes sense.
Where is "The Man from U.N.C.L.E" when you need them? I know Ilyac Kurichan retired, went back to med school, and got a job with "NCIS." I know he and solo wouldn't be putting up with that nonsense. Just chasing bad guys was their job. How come the police are so honest on TV and not so neutral in real life?
Oh my-- do you think everything you see on TV is real?
The scripts are written so the good guys usually win and the bad guys go to prison. It's formulaic and moral. Audiences love a happy ending. As much as we would like to believe the police are always the good guys, the sad reality is that there are people who love power, and power corrupts.
Interpol with Headquarter (HQ) in France is a joke to humanity when it comes to delivering justice in a fair and law bidding protocol. Instead Interprol is bias to upheld the law to provide for criminals and thieves hidding in the ruling class of europe like France, Germany, and England.
(1) For example, Interpol is suppose to help issue wanted warrants and seize and arrest criminals that can roam globally. So, when the multiple counts of multiple rape by catholic priests in many countries and whom can roam globally on catholic church protection, Interpol failed to issue warrant for the catholic Pope's arrest. Because when there exists a strong sense of unity in a group, and members of the group are allow to commit crimes of abuse against humanity, then the religious group is a criminal group.
(2) Interpol now has authorities to judge a warrant for validilty of justice before they exercise their ability to make arrests. This happens after Interpool fail to make an arrest for a warrant without proof and with the words of the Catholic Pope in the late 1990s in USA. The arresting Interpol agent is swiss and accompanied by british or canadian Interpol agents or volunteers.
jujubefruit your statment about Interpol agents making arrests shows your complete lack of knowledge about what it does and what its powers are. Interpol has no arrest powers, its Red Notice is a document that request that relevent athoraties in a member state detain a transnational criminal that may be in thier teritory. Oh and to issue the Notice it first has to have a request from member state asking for it. So the reason it never moved agains those priests you mentioned is because nations in which their crimes took place NEVER asked it to do so. This article is wrong when it said the Interpol is an international policing organization, they are actually a police coordinating organization.
Ilya-2069799,
Are you talking about a front use by interpol? What about the real work of interpol as employ by the crooks or criminals of europe whom operate outside the law when no one is looking ? Do you know anyone working at interpol? Do you know the interpol agents working whom does secret assassin and maybe still doing assassins ? Do you know which person of title founded interpol or claimed responsibility for founding Interpol? How many assassins do you claim interpol done? How many arrest did interpol did by themselves?
If you lack knowledge, maybe you should probe harder with your connections to find out. IF there is a otherside of interpol, it is a joke on humanity as claim by jujubefruit on msnbc.com, and your ass would have been abuse to keep you believing as you did so you stop probing around for the truth of Interpol. My goodwill to you is warning you to Probe in secret, and trust no one so you ass don't hurt when u sit.
You've been deceived by whomever. First find who the founder of interpol before you can probe. Founder or claimed founder is religious with title.