Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces, has been elected President of Interpol.
Al Nahyan, 56, was nominated by the UAE and therefore has the support of the United Arab Emirates. He was elected by an overwhelming majority, including members from Iraq, Egypt, and Russia, and 92 of the membership’s 186 member countries. Four other candidates — from Mexico, Chile, Sweden, and Albania — entered the race.
Interpol is a international law enforcement organization that is responsible for coordinating the police response to drug trafficking, child pornography, cybercrime, missing persons, and terrorism. It’s based in Lyon, France, and in 2017 it nabbed the father of Jamal Khashoggi, the journalist killed in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, and 118 other individuals from 65 countries as part of Operation Eye on ID. Khashoggi is a contributing writer for The New York Times.
Al Nahyan comes to the post amid concerns over ongoing human rights abuses at the hands of the authorities in the United Arab Emirates, particularly those in their capital of Abu Dhabi. In August, the UAE was ranked first in the World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders. In June, the human rights advocacy group Amnesty International released a report alleging that UAE authorities have been responsible for “war crimes,” including killings and torture in detention facilities. The United Arab Emirates Department of Foreign Affairs did not comment on the Amnesty International report when it was released.
In 2015, Al Nahyan was accused of overseeing a campaign of torture on the part of UAE security forces. He has denied the allegations.
“We call on you all to work in harmony and cooperation to protect the reputation of the organization,” Interpol Secretary General Jurgen Stock said after Al Nahyan’s election on Monday.