Lord Sharpe of Epsom, the Home Office, has provided the following answer to your written parliamentary question (HL2218):
Question:
To ask His Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to Interpol regarding (1) arrest warrants being issued by the Chinese and Hong Kong authorities for Hong Kong dissidents and (2) their targeting through Interpol, including through its Stolen and Lost Travel Documents database. (HL2218)
Tabled on: 06 February 2024
This question was grouped with the following question(s) for answer:
- To ask His Majesty’s Government, following reports of the Turkish government’s use of the Interpol Stolen and Lost Travel Documents (SLTD) database to target dissidents abroad, what representations they have made to Interpol regarding misuse of the SLTD database. (HL2219)
Tabled on: 06 February 2024 - To ask His Majesty’s Government, following reports of the Turkish government’s misuse of the Interpol Stolen and Lost Travel Documents (SLTD) database, what assessment they have made of the Chinese government’s ability to use the SLTD database to target Chinese and Hong Kong dissidents abroad. (HL2220)
Tabled on: 06 February 2024
Answer:
Lord Sharpe of Epsom:
The Government strongly supports INTERPOL’s efforts to ensure systems are in place that protect individuals’ human rights in line with Article 3 of INTERPOL’s Constitution which strictly forbids any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character.
The Home Office continues to work with INTERPOL and the National Crime Agency (NCA), which acts as the UK’s National Central Bureau (NCB) for INTERPOL, to monitor the effectiveness of existing safeguards. We encourage INTERPOL to uphold international human rights obligations and we won’t hesitate to recommend further reforms to INTERPOL as necessary.
We are continuing to strengthen our collective efforts to deter the misuse of INTERPOL systems and support organisational reform and governance at INTERPOL.
Date and time of answer: 20 Feb 2024 at 12:36.
