Interpol appeals to ex-convicts to clear their criminal records

Jul 12, 2019

Following the story that ran in Sunday Vision (titled Police names most wanted) on criminals whose international warrant of arrest had been issued over years and their names are still in the system, some of the mentioned people went to Interpol offices with proof to clear their names.

KAMPALA - Interpol Uganda has called upon people whose names appeared in their systems as wanted criminals and were later cleared to come with the evidence so that they can be cleared from the system.

Following the story that ran in Sunday Vision (titled Police names most wanted) on criminals whose international warrant of arrest had been issued over years and their names are still in the system, some of the mentioned people went to Interpol offices with proof to clear their names.

The acting director of Interpol Benson Oyo-Nyeko confirms that some of the people whose names still appear in the system of wanted criminals had been cleared of their offences by the court but were never removed.

"We call on people to come to check with us with evidence to avoid being interrupted in future in case their names still appear in the system'' says Nyeko.

He stresses that if someone commits a crime and he escapes to another country, it will be difficult to arrest the suspect unless court issues warrant of arrest through the Criminal Investigations Department (CID). The CID writes to Interpol which applies for the international warrant of arrest in form of a red notice.

Nyeko notes that the red notice is issued over any crime that is committed in any country. However, it's not issued over matters of politics, religion, tribe or race, it must be entirely on crime.

"Once the red notice is issued, it circulates to the whole world and as long as a person is using the same passport with his names, he will be arrested, repatriated and tried," he adds.

Nyeko says once a person is cleared of his offences, CID takes the responsibility to write to Interpol and asks them to clear the person from the system. However, CID does not do it so it's important for one to personally follow up to clear his or her name.

Other notices

Yellow notice
This is issued over missing persons or children who cannot identify themselves. It can also be issued for people who are mentally sick and cannot explain themselves. However, they must be foreigners. So a Yellow notice is issued with details of a person and is circulated in the whole world.

Black notice
The Black notice is issued for suspected foreigners' dead bodies that cannot be identified by either police or medical examiners.

Green notice

This is issued for habitual criminals including regular abusers of drugs, addicts, rapists, and terrorists, among others. The notice is issued to the country the person is visiting to alert them about his character so that he can be monitored.

The Purple notice is issued on environmental criminals including those who sell body parts of wild animals like ivory on the international market.

The Orange notice is issued to alert an object, a person and suspected bomb or any disguised weapon and other explosive materials that would be a threat to the public.

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