G8 green light for global biometric database

Press Esc
Tuesday May 29, 2007 

G8 Justice and Interior Ministers on Friday endorsed the setting up of a global biometric database proposed by the Interpol.

Interpol Secretary General Ronald K. Noble views this database as a vital policing tool required to tackle the global problem of prison escapes of terrorists and other dangerous criminals not being promptly and adequately reported to police worldwide.

Noble noted that during the past two years alone, Interpol has become aware that more than 500 prisoners have escaped from at least 72 prisons across 43 countries worldwide.

"With no system in place to automatically alert the international police community, these dangerous criminals are given an unacceptable opportunity to escape apprehension and to cause further harm," Noble said. "Moreover, the absence of a global protocol on sharing vital information such as fingerprints and photographs of escaped prisoners, including terrorists, constitutes a serious threat to the safety and security of citizens worldwide."

Noble also sought G8 support for the creation of an international missing persons and unidentified bodies database.

Following the Asian tsunami in 2004, the need to develop a permanent structure to deal with any such future natural or manmade disasters was first raised by Germany at Interpol’s 2005 General Assembly.

Hosted by Interpol, this centralised database would enable police around the world to maintain and access information on unidentified persons and bodies on a day-to-day and long-term basis.

The Secretary General also provided an update on the International Child Sexual Exploitation (ICSE) image database being developed by Interpol at the G8’s request.

Endorsed by the G8 in 2005, the creation of the ICSE image database at the General Secretariat in Lyon will assist national investigators across the globe to identify and potentially rescue victims of child sexual abuse whose images have been posted on the Internet or retrieved from seized computers.

Interpol has progressed with the initiative and a pilot project with three G8 countries, Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom, will be launched by the end of 2007.

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