The surprising election of a Chinese police official whose security unit is involved in suppressing internal dissent in China as President of Interpol (International Criminal Police Organization) is being opposed by international human rights groups.
Meng Hongwei, Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Public Security and former head of Interpol China, took the post as president Nov. 10 succeeding Mireille Ballestrazzi from France. Her four-year term began in November 2012. Meng is the first Chinese official to become Interpol president.
Critics of Meng's election as president during Interpol's general assembly in Indonesia have voiced concern Beijing will use the crime-fighting body with a worldwide reach to track down overseas Chinese dissidents opposed to the communist Chinese government notorious for suppressing dissent.
Chinese president Xi Jinping has said "Western countries can't become 'safe havens' for corrupt fugitives. No matter where they have escaped to, we will try every means to bring them back."
As a member of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Meng's first loyalty is to Xi, who is Secretary General of the CPC.
The Ministry of Public Security (MPS) is the functional organization under the State Council in charge of public security work nationwide. It's China's principal police and security authority and the government agency exercising oversight over and is ultimately responsible for day-to-day law enforcement. It currently has 1.6 million officers.
The election of a Chinese policeman to head the world's largest law enforcement agency is highly concerning, said Nicholas Bequelin, Amnesty International regional director for East Asia.
"(This is) someone who presides over a police force notorious for human rights abuses and is a tool for political enforcement of a one party system," he told CNN.
Bequelin also pointed to previous incidents where China has sought to use Interpol red notices -- which place people on global wanted lists -- against political dissidents.
According to Article 3 of Interpol's Constitution, "it is strictly forbidden for the organization to undertake any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character."
One Chinese dissident placed on an Interpol red notice by China is Dolkun Isa, despite his being granted political asylum by Germany.
Isa is head of the World Uyghur Congress, which speaks on behalf of Uyghurs, a Turkic-speaking, largely Muslim minority living in China's Xinjiang province. China considers the Muslim majority province of Xinjiang as a hotbed for Muslim terrorism and has been brutal in repressing Uyghur dissent.