Special Notices

INTERPOL–United Nations Security Council Special Notice

The INTERPOL-United Nations Security Council Special Notice is issued for individuals and entities that are subject to sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council. Its principal function is to alert national law enforcement agencies that sanctions measures – namely an assets freeze, travel ban and/or arms embargo – apply to designated individuals and entities.

The Special Notice was introduced in 2005, following individual resolutions adopted by INTERPOL and the United Nations (UN) that called for greater cooperation between the two organizations.

The purpose of the Special Notice

The Special Notice seeks to:

• Alert law enforcement authorities worldwide to individuals and entities that are subjects of UN sanctions including an assets freeze, arms embargo, and/or travel ban; 
• Enhance the information available concerning sanctioned individuals and entities, the quality of UN sanctions lists, and the narrative summaries that describe the grounds for the sanctions;
• Provide direction on action to be taken to implement the sanctions in accordance with national legislation.

 Like all INTERPOL Notices, Special Notices are circulated to all INTERPOL member countries using INTERPOL’s secure global communications system.

 Additionally, if requested by the UN, a public extract of the Special Notice will appear on this website.

The Special Notice and the Al-Qaida and the Taliban Sanctions Committees

In 1999, the UN Security Council established a committee to oversee the implementation of sanctions against individuals and entities associated with Al-Qaida and the Taliban. Known as the 1267 Committee, after the UN resolution which led to its creation, the Committee named those individuals and entities subject to sanctions on what was known as the Consolidated List.

The sanctions required to be implemented by all UN Member States are:

• Assets freeze: to freeze the funds and other financial assets or economic resources;
• Travel ban: to prevent the entry into or transit through their territories;
• Arms embargo: to prevent the supply, sale and transfer of arms and related material.

In 2005, based on the cooperation between INTERPOL and the UN, the first Special Notices were published for individuals on the 1267 Committee’s Consolidated List.

Changes to the sanctions regime

In 2011, the UN Security Council decided to divide what was once the 1267 Committee sanctions regime into two distinct sanctions regimes: one for sanctions concerning Al-Qaida and one for sanctions concerning the Taliban. 

• Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1988 (2011):
  Referred to as the  1988 Committee, this Committee now oversees sanctions concerning individuals, groups, undertakings and entities associated with the Taliban that constitute a threat to the peace, stability and security of Afghanistan. It maintains a list of the individuals and entities subject to sanctions.
• Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999) and 1989 (2011):
  The sanctions list previously maintained by the 1267 Committee is now known as the “ Al-Qaida Sanctions List” and only includes names of those individuals, groups, undertakings and entities associated with Al-Qaida. The Committee that oversees the implementation of the Al-Qaida Sanctions List is now known as the “Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999) and 1989 (2011) concerning Al-Qaida and associated individuals and entities”.

INTERPOL works with the two newly designated committees and Special Notices are issued for individuals and entities on the Al-Qaida Sanctions List and on the 1988 Committee List. 

The Special Notice and the Liberia Sanctions Committee

Through resolution 1521 (2003), the UN Security Council established a committee to oversee the implementation of sanctions against individuals and entities who constitute a threat to peace and security in Liberia (referred to as the  Liberia Sanctions Committee). 

As is the case with the Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee and the 1988 Sanctions Committee, the Liberia Sanctions Committee is also tasked with overseeing the implementation of mandatory sanctions measures, including a travel ban.

In 2011, INTERPOL will start to publish Special Notices for individuals subject to the travel ban.

Publicly available extracts of Special Notices

Some of the Special Notice extracts that appear on this website are in the process of being updated to reflect the changes to the Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee and the creation of the 1988 Committee.

There are Special Notice extracts on this website that relate to individuals who are confirmed or believed to be dead.  Such extracts remain on the website in order to give continuing effect to the relevant sanctions imposed by the UN.