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Ben Keith and Rhys Davies featured in Turkish Minute on 29 January 2024

Interpol Red Notice lawyers Rhys Davies and Ben Keith were featured in Turkish Minute after their appearance on CBS 60 Minutes on 28 January 2024. They provided expert commentary on Interpol and the Interpol Red Notice system and the problem faced by the organisation.

“INTERPOL acknowledges [Red Notice] abuses and at the same time admits that its system is not foolproof. In 2022, 304 out of almost 24,000 wanted alerts were found to be in violation of INTERPOL’s rules and were subsequently rejected or deleted. However, the organization declined to disclose which countries committed the worst violations.

Rhys Davies and Ben Keith, British lawyers who specialize in INTERPOL’s complex bureaucracy, believe that INTERPOL’s reluctance to punish countries appropriately, even when they blatantly violate its rules, undermines the organization’s integrity.

Speaking to Turkish Minute, Keith expressed concern about the lack of transparency in INTERPOL’s processes and the absence of tough disciplinary sanctions against countries that abuse the system.

“To reform INTERPOL, the organization needs to become transparent,” Keith told Turkish Minute.

“All the processes are completely opaque. We do not know who is elected or how and what the voting is,” he said.

Turkey has been accused of abusing INTERPOL mechanisms, particularly Red Notices, to target political opponents. These Red Notices have resulted in the freezing of assets, revocation of passports and restrictions on movement, causing damage to the reputation of individuals labeled as international criminals.”

The article can be read in full here.

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Rhys Davies is a barrister at Temple Garden Chambers specializing in international criminal law and human rights law. He has represented clients in numerous high-profile cases, including those involving torture, extradition, and Interpol Red Notices.

Ben Keith is a barrister at 5SAH Chambers specializing in cross-border and international cases. He has extensive experience in extradition, human rights, and public international law. He has represented clients in many high-profile cases, including those involving political asylum and Interpol Red Notices.

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About the Authors

Ben Keith Barrister

Ben Keith is a co-founder of IHR Advisors and an internationally recognised lawyer specialising in INTERPOL Red Notice challenges, extradition, international human rights law and asylum. He is the co-author of Interpol, Law and Practice (Sweet & Maxwell, 2026). He is co-editor of Red Notice Monitor, the leading public resource on INTERPOL Red Notice abuse and the practice of INTERPOL’s Commission for the Control of Files.

Ben represents clients across every region in INTERPOL Red Notice and Diffusion challenges before the Commission for the Control of Files. He has secured the deletion of Notices issued by states including Russia, China, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Belarus, Iran and Venezuela, in cases involving journalists, opposition political figures, refugees, human rights defenders and business figures targeted in commercial and political disputes. He is the author of the INTERPOL chapter in The Practitioner’s Guide to Global Investigations (Global Investigations Review, 2026).

Ben has appeared as counsel before the European Court of Human Rights Grand Chamber, the UK Supreme Court, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, and the UN Committee Against Torture. He is a member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court and the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague.

He regularly acts for politically exposed persons, journalists, human rights defenders and high net worth individuals facing extradition, INTERPOL Notices and other instruments of transnational repression. He provides legal commentary to national and international media including the Guardian, The Times, the Financial Times, The Telegraph, the BBC, Sky News, CNN, CBS 60 Minutes, The Economist, Politico and Al Jazeera.

Ben is ranked Star Individual in Chambers and Partners and a leading individual in The Legal 500 for extradition. He practises from 5 St Andrew’s Hill in London.

View Ben Keith's profile
Rhys Davies Barrister

Rhys Davies is a co-founder of IHR Advisors and an internationally recognised lawyer specialising in INTERPOL Red Notice challenges, international criminal law and international human rights law. He is the co-author of Interpol, Law and Practice (Sweet & Maxwell, 2026). He is co-editor of Red Notice Monitor, the leading public resource on INTERPOL Red Notice abuse and the practice of INTERPOL’s Commission for the Control of Files.

Rhys co-authored the report Undue Influence: the UAE and INTERPOL with Sir David Calvert-Smith, examining the systemic misuse of INTERPOL’s Notice and Diffusion systems by the United Arab Emirates and the implications for INTERPOL’s governance. He represents clients in INTERPOL Red Notice challenges before the Commission for the Control of Files, with particular focus on cases involving Middle Eastern and Central Asian states, and on the position of refugees, journalists and political dissidents targeted through INTERPOL by their states of origin.

Rhys has significant experience of in-country legal advice and assistance, most recently in the West Bank, and a specific interest in the Middle East. He is a member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court, the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. He regularly speaks at, and chairs, events at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva and at the House of Commons on matters of international law.

Rhys is the author of numerous articles on INTERPOL Red Notice practice and on justice in the Middle East, and is in demand as a commentator on international human rights. He provides legal commentary to national and international media including The Times, the Guardian, the Independent, the Financial Times, CBS 60 Minutes, Sky News, City AM and Al Jazeera.

Rhys is recommended as a leading individual in The Legal 500. He practises from Temple Garden Chambers in London and The Hague.

View Rhys Davies's profile