A
little-discussed executive order from President Obama giving foreign
cops new police powers in the United States by exempting them from such
drudgery as compliance with the Freedom of Information Act is raising
alarm among commentators who say INTERPOL already had most of the same
privileges as diplomats.
At
David Horowitz’s Newsreal,
Michael van der Galien said the issue is Obama’s expansion of President
Ronald Reagan’s order from 1983 that originally granted those
diplomatic privileges.
Reagan’s order carried certain exemptions requiring that INTERPOL
operations be subject to several U.S. laws such as the Freedom of
Information Act. Obama, however, removed those restrictions in his Dec.
16 amendment to Executive Order 12425.
That means, van der Galien wrote today, “this foreign law enforcement
organization can operate free of an important safeguard against
government and abuse.”
“‘Property and assets,’ including the organization’s records, cannot
be searched or seized. Their physical locations are now immune from U.S.
legal or investigative authorities,” he wrote.
Obama’s
order said he was removing the Reagan limitations on INTERPOL:
“AMENDING EXECUTIVE ORDER 12425 DESIGNATING INTERPOL
AS A PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION ENTITLED TO
ENJOY CERTAIN PRIVILEGES, EXEMPTIONS, AND IMMUNITIES
“By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and
the laws of the United States of America, including section 1 of the
International Organizations Immunities Act (22 U.S.C. 288), and in order
to extend the appropriate privileges, exemptions, and immunities to the
International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), it is hereby
ordered that Executive Order 12425 of June 16, 1983, as amended, is
further amended by deleting from the first sentence the words “except
those provided by Section 2(c), Section 3, Section 4, Section 5, and
Section 6 of that Act” and the semicolon that immediately precedes
them,” he wrote.
At the ThreatsWatch.org website, authors Steve Schippert and Clyde Middleton gave their interpretation of the result.
“In light of what we know and can observe, it is our logical
conclusion that President Obama’s Executive Order amending President
Ronald Reagans’ 1983 EO 12425 and placing INTERPOL above the United
States Constitution and beyond the legal reach of our own top law
enforcement is a precursor to more damaging moves,” they wrote.
“When the paths on the road map converge – Iraq withdrawal,
Guantánamo closure, perceived American image improved internationally,
and an empowered INTERPOL in the United States – it is probable that
President Barack Obama will once again make America a signatory to the
International Criminal Court. It will be a move that surrenders American
sovereignty to an international body whose INTERPOL enforcement arm has
already been elevated above the Constitution and American domestic law
enforcement,” they said.
“For an added and disturbing wrinkle, INTERPOL’s central operations
office in the United States is within our own Justice Department
offices. They are American law enforcement officers working under the
aegis of INTERPOL within our own Justice Department. That they now
operate with full diplomatic immunity and with ‘inviolable archives’
from within our own buildings should send red flags soaring into the
clouds,” they said.
“Ultimately, a detailed verbal explanation is due the American public
from the President of the United States detailing why an international
law enforcement arm assisting a court we are not a signatory to has been
elevated above our Constitution upon our soil.”
Records show that the original order designated INTERPOL as a public
international organization. Reagan had extended “appropriate privileges,
exemptions, and immunities,” but kept it subject to searches and
seizures under appropriate legal circumstances.
Obama’s decision, analysts have concluded, exempted Interpol from all restrictions.
“This international law enforcement body now operates –
now operates
– on American soil beyond the reach of our own top law enforcement arm,
the FBI, and is immune from Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA)
requests,” ThreatsWatch reported.
At
the Patriot Room, it was explained there is a reason for a certain level of immunity.
“Before we get our knickers in a bunch, there is logic to this
immunity. While we like our Constitution and laws, other countries like
their Constitution and laws. It doesn’t matter if the concept of
personal freedom is more expansive here. If we expect immunity in their
country, we have to extend it to them here.”
But with Obama’s change, “It means that we have an international
police force authorized to act within the United States that is no
longer subject to 4th Amendment Search and Seizure.”
Anthony Martin at the Examiner
noted the international agency now can operate in the U.S. will “full
immunity” from U.S. laws and “with complete independence from oversight
from the FBI.”
At National Review
Andy McCarthy asked,
“Why would we elevate an international police force above American law?
Why would we immunize an international police force from the
limitations that constrain the FBI and other American law-enforcement
agencies? Why is it suddenly necessary to have, within the Justice
Department, a repository for stashing government files which, therefore,
will be beyond the ability of Congress, American law-enforcement, the
media, and the American people to scrutinize?”
At UNDispatch,
which is a blog on the United Nations, Mark Leon Goldberg, who explained
he worked at Interpol’s headquarters in France in 2002, said there
isn’t much danger of INTERPOL agents whisking Americans off to jail. But
he confirmed, “As to the specific reason why the Obama administration
would decide, last week, to extend to INTERPOL the same suite of
diplomatic privileges that are typically accorded to international
organizations? I don’t have a good answer for that. My sense is that it
probably has something to with the accessibility of INTERPOL’s secure
criminal databases (on things like stolen passports and the like).”
But the Obama critics at
the Obamafile weren’t convinced.
“By this EO, Obama has conferred diplomatic immunity upon INTERPOL,
exemption from being subject to search and seizure by law enforcement,
exemption from U.S. taxes, and immunity from FOIA requests, etc. … Does
INTERPOL have a file on Obama – or his associations?”
“I Think I Shot at a Range Here”
The past
five days have been a whirlwind. I have been traveling through the
southern states, from Arkansas to the southern tip of Florida where I
had speaking engagements and a few radio and tv appearances for the
launch of [...] ... READ MORE
