UK residents go to jail and lose jobs over unpaid loans as Interpol has started issuing ‘red notices’ – their strongest criminal alert – over unfunded checks, which are a criminal offense in states with sharia law, a rights group has found.
The Fair Trials International has labeled the International
Criminal Police Organization a ‘debt collector’ for countries
like Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The UK-registered
charity has stated that by this, Interpol’s services are being
‘misused’.
The rights group wrote a letter to Interpol’s Secretary General,
Ronald K. Noble, urging safeguards to be put in place “so
that its Red Notice system focuses on bringing serious
international criminals to justice rather than wrecking the lives
of normal people who have provided blank cheques as security, a
common practice in a number of countries across the region,”
said a statement published on the group’s website.
The red notices are based on the penal codes of each state
meaning that sharia law administered states’ internal workings is
leading to Interpol issuing them for the unfunded checks.
One anonymous 28-year-old woman was employed by two Middle
Eastern airlines. While living in the region, she took out a loan
to buy a car and left the check as a security measure. The woman
injured her foot, left the country on sick leave and subsequently
lost her job. She could no longer keep up with any repayments and
the bank was reportedly unwilling to devise a new method to
complete payment.
“This was enough for the country to obtain a Red Notice from
Interpol, making [the woman] listed on police databases across
the world as a “wanted” international criminal,” said the
statement.
The woman lost her new job as a result.
“I didn't know what an Interpol red notice was…I couldn't
believe it….It was awful. It went on for five months then I was
formally dismissed. I kept thinking the police would come and
take me,” she said in a video released by the group.
“Although we’ve been able to help vulnerable people to get
these Red Notices removed, the damage has often already been done
with lives, careers and reputations left in ruins.”
Another Briton was arrested in Jordan after also taking out a
loan on a car in Qatar and leaving a blank check as a security
and had to leave the country at short notice.
“I didn't know what it was about. I was put in a cell for two
days. Luckily there was no extradition agreement between Jordan
and Qatar so they said I could not be removed. Eventually I was
released,” the man said. “Now I'm worried about
traveling anywhere. It's a big headache to see your name [on the
Interpol site].”
The video documenting their problems states towards that over
8,000 Red Notices are issued every year and that “Interpol
must do more to stop countries abusing its power and ruining
people’s lives”.
Jago Russell, chief executive of Fair Trials International wrote
in the letter that there was a “pattern of misuse.”
“A number of countries in the Middle East use criminal
charges in relation to bounced checks and the non-payment of
civil debts despite the absence of any evidence confirming fraud
or other criminal activity,” he stated.
“Due to sharia-compliant finance rules, it is common practice
for banks and other lenders to require borrowers to write a
cheque as security for a loan. If repayments on the loan are not
met, the check is then cashed, often without warning to the
borrower,” he wrote.
A criminal case is then usually opened into the matter of an
unfunded check after it is cashed.
The group has requested Interpol to disclose data on bounced
checks and unpaid civil debts related to countries with sharia
rule.