Skip to main content

Interpol teams up into Westgate investigations



26th Sept-2013
An INTERPOL Incident Response Team (IRT) has been deployed at the request of Kenyan authorities to provide on-site assistance to the Westgate shopping centre terror attack investigation.
Headed by INTERPOL’s Executive Director of Police Services Jean-Michel Louboutin the team includes Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) and data specialists who will carry out real-time comparisons against INTERPOL’s global databases on DNA and fingerprints and other evidence gathered from the crime scene.
Security at the west-gate
The IRT, which arrived in Nairobi on yesterday, will also ensure the swift dissemination of all forensic information, photographs of the suspected terrorists, details of arrested individuals and any other suspects linked to the deadly assault, to INTERPOL’s 190 member country network for comparison against national databases to identify any potential leads.
“INTERPOL’s role is to help coordinate the international response in support of the Kenyan authorities as they investigate this horrific incident, and to assist their actions at the regional and international levels,” said Mr Louboutin.
“Whether it be through comparison of information against INTERPOL’s global databases, or the issuance of a notice to identify a victim, locate a wanted person, or seek additional information about suspects, we will offer all necessary assistance to help bring those responsible to justice,” added Mr Louboutin.
In addition to the IRT deployment, support is also being provided to Kenya’s national authorities via INTERPOL’s Regional Bureau in Nairobi and the 24-hour Command and Coordination Centre (CCC) at its General Secretariat headquarters in Lyon, France.
The CCC will also act as a central liaison to the INTERPOL National Central Bureaus of all the involved countries to ensure any ante mortem data on those killed during the attack, both victims and suspected perpetrators, is received as quickly as possible by Kenyan authorities.
INTERPOL also stands ready to mobilize additional support from its global network of DVI and other experts, with officers from its Counter-terrorism and Criminal Analysis Units examining all INTERPOL databases to determine whether any links can be drawn between this terrorist act and other incidents around the world.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

DEFENDING THE DEFENDERS: ZAMZAM DARES DEATH TO FIGHT FOR DARFUR’S FORGOTTEN LIVES

  By Nankwanga Eunice Kasirye A Mother Caught in Endless Conflict ZA mZam Mohammed Khater is not just a journalist; she is a relentless warrior against the shadows of war that have plagued Darfur for over two decades. At 38, she is a single mother of two—a 14-year-old son and an 18-year-old daughter—trapped in a land where fear dictates every sunrise and sorrow lingers in the air like an unshakable curse. Zamzam inspects one of the homes burnt down in 2019  She has seen the unspeakable. Massacres that leave villages lifeless, women brutalized beyond recognition, children reduced to silent witnesses of carnage. She has fled through the darkness, gripping her children’s hands as gunfire echoed behind them, the night air thick with terror. And yet, through it all, she dares to dream. " I dream of a Sudan where my children wake up to the sound of birds, not bombs. Where a mother can send her daughter to school without fearing she may never return." — ZamZam, her voice trem...
Post a Comment
Read more

DEFENDING THE DEFENDERS:YVONNE MOKA'S CHILLING EXPERIENCE WHILE REPORTING VAWG

By Nankwanga Eunice Kasirye  Yvonne Moka never imagined that reporting on femicide and violence against women and girls (VAWG) would mean reliving her own nightmares. Each story she tells is not just a battle for justice but also a fight for her own sanity. In a chilling interview, she reveals the haunting weight of being both a journalist and a survivor. Yvonne Moka’s Fight for Justice Begins with a Tear-Stained Story Yvonne Moka, a passionate social justice journalist from Botswana, never anticipated that her first major social justice story would be the one that shattered her heart. "My home girl, we grew up together. We shared everything—church, music, village life. She was like my sister. When I left for university, she stayed behind. Over time, she began dating a gangster from the village, and I was not pleased," Moka recalls. "But she made her choices. Then, one fateful day, I received a call from her neighbor: ‘She’s dead. The boyfriend has killed her.’"...
Post a Comment
Read more

DEFENDING THE DEFENDERS: TURNING THE MICROPHONE TO FEMALE JOURNALISTS REPORTING VAWG

By Nankwanga Eunice Kasirye  Female journalists covering violence against women and girls are not just exposing injustice—they are risking their own safety. The very violence they report on is the same violence that threatens them. According to the United Nations, 85,000 women and girls were intentionally killed in 2023, with 51,100 murdered by an intimate partner or family member. This translates to 140 women and girls killed daily—one every ten minutes. Additionally, 736 million women worldwide have experienced physical or sexual violence at least once in their lives, with 30% of women aged 15 and older reporting such experiences. Beyond physical violence, female journalists frequently face sexual harassment, cyber threats, and targeted attacks. A 2022 UNESCO report revealed that 73% of women journalists globally have experienced online violence, with 20% facing real-world attacks linked to their work. These threats not only compromise their safety but also have severe psycho...
Post a Comment
Read more