German officials updated on INTERPOL G8 tools to enhance global security

(right) Mr Lutz Diwell, Germany’s State Secretary from the Federal Ministry of Justice, visits the Command and Co-ordination Center.

The delegation is briefed on INTERPOL initiatives for tackling global crime challenges

LYON, France – Germany’s State Secretary from the Federal Ministry of Justice was updated on a range of INTERPOL and G8 initiatives during a visit to the General Secretariat in Lyon today.

The visit by Mr Lutz Diwell follows the meeting in May of G8 Justice and Interior Ministers in Munich which endorsed a range of vital policing tools proposed by INTERPOL aimed at enhancing national and global security.

In order to support its members countries in tackling global crime challenges, INTERPOL provides law enforcement officers at strategic locations such as border control points with access to its global police databases, enabling them to identify criminals and terrorists attempting to illegally enter their country on a stolen or lost travel document or if a person is travelling in a stolen vehicle, or is wanted internationally.

INTERPOL is also developing the International Child Sexual Exploitation (ICSE) image database at the G8’s request, which will assist national investigators across the globe to identify and potentially rescue victims of child sexual abuse whose images have been posted on the Internet or recovered from seized computers.

In support of these initiatives, each of INTERPOL’s 186 member countries benefit from the 24-hour Command and Co-ordination Centre at the General Secretariat which can instantly alert police around the world to significant criminal events and provide support in the aftermath of a terrorist attack or natural disaster.

INTERPOL also hosts the world’s only global DNA database which contains profiles contributed from 46 countries, 17 of which have signed up to the DNA Gateway Charter enabling them to conduct online automatic comparison between countries.

In July this year DNA experts from INTERPOL and G8 member countries successfully tested a new electronic messaging network developed by INTERPOL which will enable national forensic laboratories in G8 countries to exchange DNA information with each other directly.

As part of the G8, Germany is also a significant supporter of the International Child Sexual Exploitation (ISCE) database being developed by INTERPOL, having contributed more than EUR 300,000 to its creation.

It was work by specialist officers at Germany’s Bundeskriminalamt which led to the ‘unscrambling’ of the image of a man photographed sexually abusing young boys and the subsequent successful worldwide public appeal by INTERPOL to identify ‘VICO’ which resulted in the identification and arrest of Canadian Christopher Paul NEIL in Thailand in October.