A general from the United Arab Emirates who has been accused of complicity in torture has been elected as president of the global police agency Interpol.
Ahmed Nasser al-Raisi, inspector general of the UAE’s interior ministry, will serve a four-year term in the part-time and unpaid role. Human rights groups had lobbied against his candidacy, accusing him of failing to investigate credible complaints of torture against UAE security forces. Gen Raisi rejects the allegations.
Gen Raisi was elected Interpol’s president after three rounds of voting by member states at the agency’s general assembly in Istanbul, Turkey. His duties will include chairing meetings of the executive committee, which supervises the work of Secretary General Jürgen Stock. Mr Stock is a full-time official who oversees the day-to-day running of Interpol.
Gen Raisi tweeted that it was an “honour” to be elected president and promised to “build a more transparent, diverse and decisive organisation that works to ensure safety for all.” In a separate statement, he declared that the UAE was “one of the world’s safest places” and that the Gulf Arab state continued to be the “most important force for positive change in the world’s most difficult region.”
