The Joint Committee on Human Rights published its report on “Transnational Repression in the UK” this week, addressing the abuse of INTERPOL’s Red Notice system following expert evidence from barristers Ben Keith and Rhys Davies.
The Seventh Report of Session 2024–25 is a Joint Committee report with recommendations to the government, which now has two months to respond to the findings and proposals.
The report examines how authoritarian states use transnational repression tactics to target critics beyond their borders, with INTERPOL abuse identified as a key concern. The committee extensively considered the evidence given by both barristers, incorporating their analysis and recommendations throughout its findings on how politically motivated Red Notices are undermining the system’s integrity.
In his evidence to the committee, Rhys Davies described Red Notices as:
“the sniper rifle of autocrats… long-distance, targeted, and highly effective.”
The report details how politically motivated Red Notices can severely restrict victims’ lives. As Rhys explained:
“You will be in constant fear that, if you were to go on holiday to Spain, an overzealous passport control officer might think they have an international super-criminal… and will detain you. There is no aspect of your life that this will not touch upon.”
Ben Keith highlighted gaps in official understanding of the issue, telling the committee:
“If somebody applies for a visa to come to the United Kingdom with a Red Notice against them, you might assume they were a criminal. It might be from Russia; it might be from another state. They might have been a former politician. There is a significant lack of education [in the Civil Service] about trying to analyse whether a Red Notice is in fact genuine.”
The committee adopted key recommendations from both barristers, calling for the Government to work with ‘Five Eyes’ partners to:
“track and expose malicious, vexatious, and politically motivated use of Red Notices” and push for “corrective measures and suspensions for systematic abusers of INTERPOL mechanisms.”
The report also identifies a transparency problem – there’s currently no requirement for INTERPOL to alert people when politically motivated notices are issued against them.
Both barristers had advocated for the UK to take a more proactive role in INTERPOL reform, recommendations now formally endorsed by the parliamentary committee.
A copy of the report can be found here.
Ben Keith is a leading barrister specialising in cross-border and international cases. He deals with all aspects of Extradition, Human Rights, Mutual Legal Assistance, Interpol, Financial crime and International Law including sanctions. He represents governments, political and military leaders, High Net Worth individuals, human rights defenders and business leaders in the most sensitive cases.
