Image of the International Police Staff
The National Central Bureau of Interpol (NCB) of Tajikistan is established according to the authorities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of the Republic of Tajikistan for its membership in the International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO). On 5 October 2004 Tajikistan was accepted to Interpol and became 182nd member country of this Organization.
The Director of the NCB Interpol of Tajikistan, the Major General Mahmadsaid Jurakulov, has shared at the interview about the activities of NCB of Tajikistan and its accomplishments in combating against international crime.
- Dear Mahmadsaid, how many employees do work in the NCB Interpol of Tajikistan?
The personnel are small – around 20 people, but it is sufficient to execute our terms of references.
- What are the criteria of personnel selection for Interpol of Tajikistan?
The main criteria followed by us while selecting candidates, first of all, is integrity and being free of corruption. Secondly, of course, the knowledge of a foreign language, since the name of the organization (Interpol) requires it, and all the paperwork is in four official languages of the Organization: English, French, Spanish and Arabic. Accordingly, our employees must possess one of four languages, except the Russian and Tajik. In perspective, they have to learn one more official language of the Organization. Their participation in the trainings and workshops, which are conducted in other countries, also obliges them to master the languages. Another criterion is being a confident computer user, since all the job processes are performed by using modern technologies. For instance, for the International Search Unit we try to recruit experienced people in operational investigations and pre-investigative activities. The preference is given to people, who are fluent in a foreign language, and are literate in computer to work in the Information Technology Unit. Also, a vetting is carried out towards the candidates before they join our system. It is natural that all the candidates should have a law or a special technical background. I want to mention that ever since the moment I have joined the Interpol, I set an objective to train my staff, or being more precisely, to make them professionally well-grounded. For this purpose, I have prepared a special questionnaire, consisting of more than 200 questions on different issues, including terrorism, drugs, stocks, the subjects of international investigations, etc. Our employee must know an answer to each of those questions. This system is very efficient, and this is very important – first, you need to train an employee, and then demand to work.
- How do you fight against corruption in your Organization nowadays?
A word “corruption” is excluded from the Interpol system. There is even no need for it in our system. First of all, there were no cases of corruption related actions taken by the staff of Interpol in Tajikistan. I think it should not be a case. The concept of corruption is alien for the Interpol staff. Otherwise, that person would not be an employee of the Organization.
- Are there any foreign citizens in the wanted list of Interpol in Tajikistan and for what reason?
Yes, sure. There are those people that have committed crimes in the territory of Tajikistan or their accomplices, and for some reason, those that were not arrested in due time and were caught up in the area of other states. However, it should be noted that the amount of wanted foreign citizens by the NCB Interpol is insignificant. I will emphasize, that the international investigation of a citizen is declared after he/she is accused by the preliminary investigation in committing a certain type of crime and a pre-trial restraint, i.e. placement in custody is imposed on that person. Meanwhile, the relevant agencies should have enough grounds that the accused person has left abroad. For this purpose, the NCB Interpol is provided a package of documents to meet the requirements of the Interpol Charter. After the accused person is declared for international investigation, the Interpol issues “red” corner (“red circular”) notification. All the member countries of the International criminal police organization (ICPO) - Interpol should be aware about it. The “red” corner notification commits all the member countries of Interpol to take measures for the detention, arrest and extradition of the accused person. The databases of ICPO-Interpol also contain a “black” circular – for unidentified corpses, “yellow” circular – for missing persons, “blue” circular – for the location identification of wanted persons and information collection about them, etc. Thus, for example, last year we have received a “yellow” circular for 25-years old citizen of one of the African countries. We have identified that he was in Tajikistan, was working and married, and that he had kids… The country-initiator was informed about it. It should be noted that Interpol is an independent organization, and in accordance with Article 3 of the Charter of the Organization in respect of persons, who have committed crimes for political, religious, or racial motives, as well as in respect of the military staff, the ICPO-Interpol does not consider the materials for circulating a list of those internationally wanted persons.
- The car thefts are the scourge for all states. What kinds of vehicles and when can cause the vehicles to be in the Interpol database? Is there any database on stolen cars in Tajikistan?
Yes, the statistics shows that this type of business – hijacking or stealing of vehicles is very popular. The vehicles are entered into the Interpol databases once the owner of the vehicle in the country, where it was stolen appeals to the law enforcement agencies of his/her state. The car will be outstanding for a while, and if it is not found in its area, the data of the vehicle is entered into the databases of the Interpol General Secretariat, and it can be found while registration in any country for sure. It should be mentioned that mostly cars are stolen from the European countries. Due to the frequent cases of vehicles’ theft from the European countries, currently all the vehicles that arrive in the Republic of Tajikistan are registered by the State Traffic Inspection of Tajikistan after it is cleared through the Interpol system.
- Today is an era of technical capabilities; the members of criminal groups change the engine plates on the stolen cars. How difficult is it to identify? How does it happen?
Actually, it is very complicated visually and often impossible to determine whether the engines IDs were changed or not. Thus, according to the documents the vehicle can be perfect. However, there is a special verification method. It requires some time, special skills and technics in order to identify whether the ID of the engine was changed or not. Therefore, it is the forensic experts, who identify if the engine ID or VIN was changed or not.
- How many stolen vehicles are situated in Tajikistan at the moment?
I would say that out of the overall number of imported vehicles the quantity of stolen ones is insignificant.
- Recently, in the capital of Vietnam, Hanoi, there was the 80th anniversary of the Interpol General Assembly. What questions were reviewed by the delegates?
In the anniversary meeting of the General Assembly, 630 representatives of law enforcement agencies from 172 countries took participation, as well as the observers from the largest international organizations, such as United Nations and Europol. The delegates in Hanoi have discussed a wide range of questions, associated with stirring up the struggle against a transnational crime and international terrorism, as well as against sea-piracy, cybercrimes and corruption in sport. Moreover, the questions on strengthening cooperation between member countries were reviewed, including on-time implementation of requests, stirring-up of internationally wanted people. During the session, the management of the Interpol has presented the latest data on the integration of travel documents, such as e-passports of the Interpol staff. Nowadays, the electronic travel documents, developed jointly with the Interpol and the Ukrainian consortium “EDAPS,” which are officially recognized by 31 countries and more than 70 countries are in the process of its official recognition. Also, the Vice-President of the Interpol and two members of the Executive Board of the Interpol were elected on the anniversary of the General Assembly of the Interpol.
- Let me wish you and your staff of the National Central Bureau of Interpol Tajikistan success in your difficult and crucial task. Thank you for the interesting interview.
Interview was taken by N. Mikhaylova.
