Refusal of access to Interpol information concerning a refugee

Facts

X. is a national of State Y. who was convicted in her country of origin to a prison sentence for membership in an association. She then fled and obtained asylum in Switzerland. In 2005, she requested the Federal Office of Justice to be informed whether there was an international arrest warrant against her. The Federal Office of Justice refused to provide her with this information, on the grounds that foreign extradition requests are subject to official secrecy except in cases of manifest abuse. X. then appealed against this decision to the FSCA.

Considerations

The FSCA considered that the Federal Office of Justice was not competent to rule on X.'s request for information. Indeed, according to Art. 13 of the Ordinance on Interpol, when a person is the subject of a foreign extradition request, only the authority of the requesting State is competent to decide on access to information concerning that person. The FSCA therefore declared the decision of the Federal Office of Justice null and void.

Nevertheless, the FSCA indicated that X. could contact the Interpol Files Control Commission to obtain access to any data concerning her that may be recorded by Interpol. This commission is indeed…