PALIKIR, Pohnpei—On November 23rd, 2021, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM)
became the 195th member of the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL).
Joining INTERPOL has been a priority of the administration of President David W. Panuelo and Vice President Yosiwo P. George, first announced in the President’s inaugural address.
The vote occurred on the first day of the 89th General Assembly of INTERPOL, where the
FSM is represented by Assistant Attorney General & Chief of Law, Leonito Bacalando Jr.,
Assistant Secretary & Chief of the FSM Cybersecurity & Intelligence Bureau, Adam Caldwell,
and Department of Justice Legal Attache & Legal Adviser to the FSM Permanent Mission to
the United Nations, Clement Yow Mulalap.
Headquartered in the city of Lyons in the French Republic, INTERPOL provides investigative support, expertise, and training to law enforcement worldwide, with focuses on terrorism, cybercrime, and organized crime. INTERPOL also facilitates cooperation among national law enforcement institutions through criminal databases and communications networks.
A politically neutral entity, INTERPOL’s primary aims—described in Article Two of its constitution—are “to ensure and promote the widest possible mutual assistance between all
criminal police authorities within the limits of the law existing in different countries, and in
the spirit of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”
“I am deeply humbled and honored by the international community’s vote to grant our
Nation membership into INTERPOL,” President Panuelo said in a statement. “The FSM is
committed to the rule of law and the international rules-based order. By joining INTERPOL,
the FSM, the Micronesian subregion, and the whole of the Indo-Pacific more generally, just
became safer today than it was yesterday.”
“On behalf of the People and Government of the FSM, I extend our appreciation to the
President and to the Secretary-General of INTERPOL, and to all of INTERPOL’s members.
I enthusiastically and categorically announce our Nation’s promise to uphold INTERPOL’s
values, to live up to its mission statement, and to be a model example of a good partner.”
(FSMIS Release)
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