INTERPOL: The evolution of notifications and mailings and the problem of transnational abuse of international searches.

This report examines the evolution of INTERPOL notices and diffusions between 2016 and 2026 and assesses the continuing risk that international police cooperation mechanisms may be used for transnational repression and other improper purposes. The study analyses the current legal and institutional framework governing INTERPOL’s data-processing activities, including Articles 2(1) and 3 of the INTERPOL Constitution, the Rules on the Processing of Data, the preliminary review conducted by the Notices and Diffusions Task Force, and the subsequent control exercised by the Commission for the Control of INTERPOL’s Files. Particular attention is paid to Red Notices, diffusions, direct exchanges between National Central Bureaus, repeated or reformulated requests, and the consequences of INTERPOL data within national border-control, migration, banking and law-enforcement systems. Drawing on official INTERPOL materials, CCF practice, international human rights law, judicial decisions and comparative national approaches, the report identifies persistent structural vulnerabilities in the international wanted-person system. These include insufficient transparency, the circulation of data through secondary databases, the risk of automated reliance on international alerts, procedural difficulties faced by affected individuals, and the absence of effective mechanisms for the immediate suspension of harmful consequences while a complaint is under consideration. The report proposes the ARGA Six-Layer Review Model, a structured framework for assessing the legitimacy, evidentiary quality, political context, procedural history and practical consequences of an international wanted-person request. It also formulates recommendations for INTERPOL, its member countries, national judicial and administrative authorities, financial institutions and other organisations relying on INTERPOL-related data. The central conclusion is that an INTERPOL notice or diffusion must be treated as a request for international cooperation requiring independent legal verification, rather than as conclusive evidence of guilt or an autonomous legal basis for arrest, extradition, immigration restrictions or financial sanctions.