The OSCE promotes access to INTERPOL databases

In today’s interconnected world, border crossing are not so much barriers between countries but rather points at which they can co-operate, for instance in gathering information relevant to law enforcement investigations.

The databases developed by the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) make it possible for border officials, in the course of routine passport and vehicle controls, to check for stolen and lost travel documents, wanted individuals and stolen motor vehicles. Thanks to the Fixed Interpol Network Database (FIND), which provides unified access to the various specialized databases, the checks take only a few seconds. “Secure, modern and efficient border control is an essential tool for increasing border security while at the same time enhancing traveller facilitation,” Raphael Perl, who heads the Action against Terrorism Unit in the OSCE Secretariat, comments.

The OSCE has been encouraging the use of the INTERPOL databases since 2004, when the Ministerial Council resolved that “participating States should rapidly report all instances of lost and stolen international travel documents to INTERPOL’s automated search facility” (Ministerial Council Decision 4/04). In 2006, the participating States decided to make every effort to provide law enforcement end-users with integrated real-time access to INTERPOL’s automated search facility(Ministerial Council Decision 6/06).This Decision also tasks the Secretary General to facilitate assistance to participating States in this field if required.

In April 2010 the OSCE and INTERPOL concluded a joint project in Moldova that provided real-time access to INTERPOL databases at 16 border control points – on the borders to Romania and Ukraine and at the Chisinau and Iasi international airports – and 11 police stations. The police stations are situated on the boundary to Transdniestria. Here, rather than systematically checking travellers, law enforcement officers query the databases in an investigative, second-line manner.

The OSCE donated more than 201,000 EUR in passport scanners, computers, software development and web services. At the conclusion of the project, OSCE and INTERPOL experts trained more than 30 Moldovan border, customs and police officials in using the equipment to access the databases.

The systematic and regular use that, as statistics indicate, the Moldovan authorities are making of the INTERPOL databases is impressive. Moldova has also begun sharing its own information on lost or stolen travel documents with INTERPOL, enabling border control officers throughout the world to flag them as documents that criminals may be using illegally.

Building on the success of the project in Moldova, the OSCE has made first steps to provide real-time access to the INTERPOL databases at border crossings in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. In an assessment trip to Tajikistan in October 2010, OSCE experts and representatives from INTERPOL and the Norwegian Police visited the airports at Dushanbe, Khujand, Kulyab and Kurgan-Tyube, and a number of border crossing points: one between Tajikistan and Afghanistan, two on the border with Uzbekistan and three on train routes coming from Uzbekistan. They assessing technical infrastructure, including access to power and internet sources, and discussed the possibility of providing real-time access for these points to INTERPOL databases with the Tajik authorities.