This decision, which is fundamental for Ukraine, was announced during a meeting between Head of the General Secretariat of INTERPOL Valdecy Urquiza and Head of the International Police Cooperation Department of the National Police of Ukraine Vitaliy Kasap in Lyon on the sidelines of the INTERPOL’s annual Heads of National Central Bureaus (NCBs) Conference.
The three-day meeting was attended by 310 law enforcement officials from 150 countries. As the main point of contact between INTERPOL and national law enforcement agencies in 196 member countries, NCBs had a unique opportunity to share knowledge, experience and best practices in the fight against transnational crime.
«As a result of the painstaking and lengthy work of the Ukrainian side to justify the need to restore the possibility of using INTERPOL's tools in investigations cases of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, which was blocked by the previous Secretary General of INTERPOL, Ukraine and other countries have finally gained this opportunity within the framework of the 2010 Resolution of the INTERPOL General Assembly. The relevant explanation will be provided by the INTERPOL General Secretariat to all countries this week,» – Vitaliy Kasap said.
Since the beginning of russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the INTERPOL General Secretariat has not processed requests from Ukraine to investigate war crimes, citing Article 3 of the Organization’s Charter, which prohibits Interpol from interfering in the investigation of military matters. Therefore, it was crucial for our country to review this issue in order to establish justice and bring russian war criminals to justice.
The Head of the International Police Cooperation Department of the National Police of Ukraine also noted that the conference managed to hold important discussions with representatives of European countries and achieved broad support for the initiative of the INTERPOL National Bureau in Ukraine to re-elect Ukraine for a second consecutive term as a member of the INTERPOL European Committee.
It should be noted that Ukraine's membership in the Committee expires this year, and four new members will be elected in May-June during the next INTERPOL European Conference.
Vitalii Kasap held a number of bilateral meetings with representatives of various countries represented at the conference, such as the USA, Germany, Poland, Greece, UAE, Israel, France, the UK, Japan, Sweden, Italy, Belgium, Colombia, and the Baltic States, and also participated in a meeting of the project team of INTERPOL and the countries participating in the I-Force project (which supports law enforcement agencies in the fight against organized crime and transnational threats arising from the military conflict in Ukraine and enhances police cooperation and operational participation in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe).
