INTERPOL
[This fictional NationStates organisation has no affiliation with the real International Criminal Police Organisation - INTERPOL.]
Discord · Activities
Constitution
Preamble
Having noted that numerous crimes against humanity have been carried out in the world with no repercussion or retribution due to inability or unwillingness of the nations of the world to act, the International Police Force will hereby be established to assist those who seek to enforce international law and assist those who cannot.
Article 1
The International Police Force, known officially in Russian as Международные полицейские силы and in Chinese as 国际刑警察部队, may herein be referred to as INTERPOL or Interpol. Its primary headquarters facilities will be based in the Stoklomolvi Liaoist Federation.
Article 2
Its primary and only purpose will be to enforce international law whenever possible and to the best of its ability, with international law being described in Article 5.
Article 3
It is permissible for Interpol to take whatever actions necessary to ensure that international law is enforced, so long as said actions do not violate extant international law. Reasoning for taking action must be justified without a political (e.g. ideological), military (e.g. expansionist; anti-expansionism is valid), religious (e.g. spreading religion), or racial nature.
Article 4
Any police organisation may be admitted to Interpol so long as it agrees to all articles of the Constitution of Interpol. Failure to adhere to any of the points in this Constitution during Interpol-related activities will mandate immediate expulsion from this organisation. Independent police commissions may be admitted to Interpol under the same conditions.
Any nation-state may be admitted to Interpol as a full member, binding all of its and its police organisations' international police operations to the constitution of Interpol. A vote will be held by the General Assembly of Interpol, and a two-thirds majority is required to allow the admission of a member. Such admission votes may be vetoed or forcibly approved by the Standing Committee.
All nation-states are automatically considered observers to Interpol; that is, able to watch over most General Assembly sessions and send correspondence to the Interpol offices without constraints. Renouncing this status would have no effect as the sessions will continue to be televised and correspondence may continued to be sent.
Article 5
International law has been formulated by various agencies and organisations globally for some time now, but the Interpol considers the following statements to be indicative of what it considers to be crimes in violation of international law at this time. This article may be amended by either the General Assembly or Standing Committee or both with notes to when and what was added or removed. An amendment may be made with majority approval in the General Assembly, or unilaterally by a Standing Committee member. Modification of this article without approval or without noting the amendment details are grounds for examination for expulsion from Interpol on grounds of breach of trust.
Amendment by Stoklomolvi, 05 November 2018
- Changed section g to match the note under "[the] following acts as part of a non-international conflict", while keeping "any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity"
- Modified section h to remove explicit reference to paragraph 3 (of the Rome Statute), replaced reference to "the Court" with reference to "Interpol"
- Changed the notes under "war crimes" from referring to "UN peacekeepers" to "international peacekeepers" as the UN does not exist (WA has no known RP power)
For the purpose of this organisation, "violation of international law" means any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack:
(a) Murder;
(b) Extermination;
(c) Enslavement;
(d) Deportation or forcible transfer of population;
(e) Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law;
(f) Torture;
(g) Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity;
(h) Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender, or other grounds that are universally recognised as impermissible under international law, in connection with any act referred to in this paragraph or any crime within the jurisdiction of Interpol;
(i) Enforced disappearance of persons;
(j) The crime of apartheid;
(k) Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health.
In particular, the Rome Statute Explanatory Memorandum states that crimes against humanity
In addition to these types of crimes against civilians, Interpol also considers war crimes to be in violation of international law. War crimes may only be perpetrated when a party is at war and include:
- Causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health;
- Torture or inhumane treatment;
- Unlawful wanton destruction or appropriation of property;
- Forcing a prisoner of war to serve in the forces of a hostile power (impressment);
- Depriving a prisoner of war of a fair trial;
- Unlawful deportation, confinement or transfer;
- Taking hostages.
- Directing attacks against civilians;
- Directing attacks against humanitarian workers or international peacekeepers;
- Killing a surrendered combatant;
- Misusing a flag of truce;
- Settlement of occupied territory;
- Deportation of inhabitants of occupied territory;
- Using poison weapons;
- Using civilians as shields;
- Using child soldiers;
- Firing upon a Combat Medic with clear insignia.
- Murder, cruel or degrading treatment and torture;
- Directing attacks against civilians, humanitarian workers or international peacekeepers;
- Taking hostages;
- Summary execution;
- Pillage;
- Rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution or forced pregnancy.
Article 6
The International Police Force (Interpol) shall comprise the following bodies:
- The Standing Committee
- The General Assembly
- The Independent Police Commissions
- The Independent Committees
Article 7
The Standing Committee of Interpol is responsible for leading Interpol and will shoulder the majority of the burden of the operations of Interpol. What "majority" means here may be set by some consensus between either the Standing Committee or the General Assembly or both at a later date. Members of the Standing Committee are held to the highest standards with regards to following and enforcing the constitution of this organisation and notify this organisation should they notice any breaches of Article 5 by any party, Interpol member or not.
Article 8
The General Assembly is responsible for carrying out quotidian operations of Interpol; that is, members of the General Assembly are expected to act in accordance with this constitution when possible. Consultation with either the Standing Committee or the other members of the General Assembly is advised when undertaking operations that may beget retribution. All members of the General Assembly are expected to uphold and enforce the constitution of this organisation and notify this organisation should they notice any breaches of Article 5 by any party, Interpol member or not.
Sessions of the General Assembly, so long as they do not concern matters of critical importance to the security and integrity of this organisation, are televised and available for viewing to the general public.
Article 9
The Independent Police Commissions are responsible for organising police organisations and commissions that have been admitted separately from a national body. As independent police organisations are not expected to have the resources to perform operations on their own, Interpol will support them in domestic operations and these police organisations may contribute to international operations when possible. All members of the Independent Police Commissions are expected to uphold the constitution of this organisation and notify this organisation should they notice any breaches of Article 5 by any party, Interpol member or not.
Article 10
The Independent Committees are responsible for organising any other bodies that are not one of the above; that is, any organisation that is not a nation-state or police organisation. As members of this body may vary widely, the contributions may be determined on an individual organisation basis. All members of the Independent Committees are expected to uphold the constitution of this organisation and notify this organisation should they notice any breaches of Article 5 by any party, Interpol member or not.
Articles 11 - 40
[Omitted from this constitution to save space; they would describe perfunctory matters that have no effect on roleplaying.]
Article 41
Article 5 of this constitution is considered legally justifiable by all members of Interpol in the context of performing police actions or peace enforcement.
Article 42
The date of commencement of the constitution of the International Police Force is declared to be 22 October 2018.
END