Dharamshala, India — “The Xi Jinping administration does not tolerate democracy inside China, and through Interpol, it cracked down upon anyone who used democratic freedom against the nation anywhere in the world. For around two years, China used this institution to harass and bring back high-profile political dissidents,” said Gonpo Dhundup, President of Tibetan Youth Congress.
Tibetan Youth Congress(TYC) urges and calls on world leaders to safeguard the democratic institution and support the innocent repressed people by voting against Chinese candidate, Hu Binchen, for executive committee member of Interpol.
“An appeal by prosecuted communities, why we should not vote in favour of Chinese candidate, Hu Binchen for executive committee member position. Beijing is known to systematically utilize and manipulate its presence in the international organizations to not only advance its influence on the global stage but also for political purposes,” said a statement issued by the TYC.
“In 2016, Beijing had pushed its Minister of Public Security Meng Hongwei into the office of Interpol at the election in Bali where he succeeded in getting elected to the Presidency to the Interpol. Human Rights Organizations globally strongly condemned the appointment of Meng as the President of the Policing agency,” it continued.
“Chinese police have issued 200 or more red notices per year since 2014, and possibly as many as 612 in 2016 alone. Before, China issued around 30 red notices per year. This dramatic escalation aligns with China's increasing securitization and pursuit of dissidents and opposition figures abroad, including Uyghurs as part of its "people's war" on terror,” the statement explained.
“The Xi Jinping administration doesn't tolerate democracy inside China, and through Interpol, it cracked down upon anyone who used democratic freedom against the nation anywhere in the world. For around two years, China used this institution to harass and bring back high-profile political dissidents,” said Gonpo Dhundup, the President of TYC.
“By electing Hu Binchen to the Executive Committee, the General Assembly would be giving a green light to the PRC government to continue their misuse of Interpol and would place the tens of thousands of Tibetan, Hong Konger, Uighur, Taiwanese and Chinese dissidents living abroad at even graver risk,” he added.
“During the 89th Interpol General Assembly (23-25 November 2021), when the Executive Committee of the International Criminal Police Organization will be electing for the post of Vice-President/Delegate for Asia, China has begun to push toward the agenda or bringing a Chinese Director at the helm of affairs in Interpol to push forward the Communist Party of China's agenda of 'purging' its dissidents. Given the suspicion around China's own track record of human rights and police work, the democracies of the world must join hands together to defend and safeguard the democratic structures of the international community and not let a few vested interests stifle their independence,” the statement continued.
“It is time for the international community to take the responsibility to uphold the values and principles of fairness, transparency, and accountability in international and multilateral organizations and stop the slow creep toward authoritarianism of international organisations like Interpol, by not voting for Chinese candidate Hu Binchen,” the President of TYC urged.
“I urge and appeal all the leaders and nations to safeguard the democratic institution and support the innocent repressed people by voting against Chinese candidate,” Gonpo Dhundup concluded.
