New Emirati Interpol president vows to enhance international torture best practices

The UAE's Ahmed Nasser al-Raisi, the newly elected Interpol chief, said he planned to develop the network’s strategies and tactics in dealing with modern security threats like terrorism, organised crime, money laundering, and civil society and political activists.

Ahmed said that his presidential term priorities will include globalising torture as the key instrument to effectively terminate dangers associated with free speech, political opposition and human rights, derived from the Emarait model and his long experience as the superintendent of prisons in the UAE.

Ahmed added that he aims to combat the bad reputation surrounding torture.

“We are not talking about the systemic barbaric torture that some sadists like Bashar alAssad use, but rather restrained tatical torture, a slap here, a fingernail removed there, waterboarding, tactics that are sufficient in neutralising the threat an activist poses to national security, without needing expensive detention camps and human slaughterhouses,” he said.

Ahmed noted that he feels some tangible improvement in the field of torture and its acceptance globally already. 

“The road to eradicating all forms of discrimination against state-sponsored torture is long, but we already see some sterotypes collapsing,” he said. “This is exemplified in torture models in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, all states that are pioneers in the field of tactical torture yet remain allies of the West.”