Senator Cruz called on to oppose UAE’s Interpol Presidency bid

Established by Radha Stirling, founder and CEO of Detained in Dubai, and a leading voice against Interpol abuse, Interpol and Extradition Reform (IPEX) is a comprehensive initiative to address the widespread and multilayered problems with the current framework of the extradition process, including the many flaws in Interpol itself as an organisation. Radha Stirling has successfully lobbied Australian Parliament to include human rights provisions in their extradition treaty with the UAE, appeared for the defence as an expert witness in several high profile extradition cases and has worked tirelessly to remove wrongfully listed clients from Interpol’s database. She has led the call for greater Interpol transparency and reforms to end abuse by an emerging “authoritarian nexus” which misuses the Interpol Red Notice system to circumvent due process.

IPEX demands that Interpol implement practical measures to ensure the protection of refugees from politically motivated malicious extradition requests, including the establishment of data sharing agreements with the UNHCR and national governments so that individuals who have been granted asylum will not be put at risk of extradition to the countries from which they have fled. This proposal is currently supported by prominent barristers in the United Kingdom, human rights organisations, and activists.

Furthermore, IPEX suggests core reforms to state-to-state extradition requests and Interpol protocols to ensure these processes will not be used for political persecution, extortion of debtors, and in an attempt to circumvent international standards of due process by instituting a global criteria for the consideration of extradition requests which include human rights concerns and the integrity of national legal systems.