Nexus - 0204 - New Times Magazine-pages

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and financial crimes; iii) illicit drug trafficking III) Legal, Technical and Reference Sections IV) Telcommunications, files, and data processing. extensively by the Nazis to maintain ectensive dossiers on thou- sands of individuals. The heart of the Nazi system was secret dossiers. Interpol today is built around its secret dossiers. It main- tains files on hundreds of thousands of private citizens from all over the world on its state of the art computers. From 1940 through to his assassination in 1942, the president of Intpol was Reinhard Heydrich, known as “Ihe Hangman”. He was found responsible for some of the worst atrocities of WWIr. Heydrich was followed by Ernst Kaltenbrunner, another Nazi fanat- ic who showed an inhuman pleasure in visiting death camps to view various methods of killing and torture. After the fall of the Nazi regime, Interpol’s president, Kaltenbrunner, was hanged for war crimes in 1946. In late 1946, representatives from at least 16 nations gathered in Belgium for Intepol’s first post-war meeting, in an attempt to recon- struct the organisation. Of the five officials who called the meeting, at least three had collaborated with the Nazis during the war. - According to researchers from the National Commission on Law Enforcement and Social lustice, the Interpol President fom 1968- 1972, Paul Dickopf, had been a member of the Nazi SS during the war. His personnel file contained his SS number (337259) and other documentation. When confronted wi this in 1974, Interpol denied the story outright. In 1975 however, Interpol subsequently changed its sry, claim- ing Dickopfs membership was involuntary. There was no such thing as involuntary membership of the SS, as historians will verify. 2: The General Assembly. According to Arcle 6 of Inteol’s Constitution, the General Assembly is he “supreme authority” of Interpol. It is composed of representatives of the member police forces who meet each year to approve-new admissions, policy and budgets etc. 3: The Executive Committee. Elected by the General Assembly, the Executive Committee con- sists of 13 members: | President, 4 Vice Presidents, and 8 delegates. It is derived exclusively rom delegates to the General Assembly. 4: National Central Bueaus. The Intelpol “office” in each member country is called a National Central Bureau (NCB). Each NCB is allocated space, supplies, and personnel to senre as a liaison point for Interpo communications and requests in that country. FINANCES Interpol’s resources are provided by “(a) the financial contribu- tions from Members; and (b) gifts, bequests, subsidies, grants and other resources after these have been accepted or approved by the Executive Committee” ,according to Article 38 of Interpol’s Constitution. Each year an external accounting firm audits Interpol. This report goes to the President and Secretary General, and is not mde public. le group answers to no one other than itself. In February 1984, Interpol made an agreement with the French Govemment, which became known as the “Interpol Headquarters Agreement” or “seat agreement”. The agreement grants complete immunity under French law from all legal liabili for itseU and its OffiCerS. It also ‘shields’ its Hes rom any requirement of disclosue. This agreement became necessary because of the growing num- ber of civil lawsuis against Inrpol. Most of Interpol’s work is done at the Interpol offices in member countries. These are known as National Central Bureaus (NCBs). As of early 1990, Interpol consisted of the law enforcement agen- cies of over ISO nations. The 1988 U.S. Department of Justice Manual describes Interpol in the following manner: “ Interpol is something of a legal curiosity. It conducts inter-gov- ernmental activities, but it is not based on an international treaty, convention, or similar legal instrument. It is founded on a constitu- tion written by a group of police officers who did not submit it for diplomatic signatures, nor have they ever submitted it far latiflca- tion by governments.” Intpol is composed of four echelons: INTERPOL INVOLVEMENT WITH DRUG TRAFFICKING 1: The General Secretariat. The central offices in Lyon, France, are refered to as the General Secretariat - the headquarters of Intelpol. It contains over 250 per- manent staff, including approx 90 police officers from 36 countries. The General Secretariat is administered by the Secrey General. He is chosen by the General Assembly, and seves a five year tenn. The General Secretariat is composed of four divisions as follows: I) General Adrninistration. Deals with finances, personnel, sup- plies, logisiics, security etc. II) Police Division. Deals in i) General offences; ii) economic ”[Panamanian Interpol Chief] Nivado Madrinan was receiving telexes in his Interpol office in Panama from Interpol Colombia which showed him the exacf drug trafficking routes. Madrinan would then get a k;ckback from fhe traffickers, and allow the drugs to pass.” Tt Oalanal Carlac Wo Lt.Colonel Carlos Worrel Panamanian Military Forces, Miami, Florida plies, logi: , security etc. Interpol, which is suposed to be helping stop the world’s illicit II) Police Division. Deals in 1) General offences; ii) economic drug ade, is apparently failing dramatically. There are even many allegations that Interpol is aiding and abetng the large drug syndi- “Interpol cannot be sued In any court cates, and are only ‘busting’ he small operators. in the world. As a result, the According to Interpol’s own propaganda, the conol of the drug 5 : 2 trade is is the organisation’ s top priority. Maye that was an unforb- organisation is completely above the nate choice of words, as despite its ectensive resources, Interpol has law and answerable to no-one. not made any signilcant headway in reducing the drug trade, nor has it made any significant arrests. Mourad Oussedik, iik Instead, Interpol’s ineffectiveness in handling drug information Attorney and expert on Interpol, has led to suspicions of Interpol’s direct involvement with the trade. . * Four Bolivian Interpol chiefs have been involved with drug Paris, France ce trafficking, or linked to drug traffickers. NEXUS - 10 STRUCTURE OF INTERPOL YEAR BOOK - JULY/AUGUST 1991