OUT OF SIGHT, NOT OUT OF REACH The Global Scale and Scope of Transnational Repression Middle East and North Africa Two women look at the view from the terrace of a cafe in Istanbul as seagulls fly over them on September 10, 2019. Image credit: Ozan Kose/AFP via Getty Images. Transnational repression is common in the Middle East and North Africa, which has the second-highest number of physical incidents in Freedom House’s compilation, behind only Asia. Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) all had recorded physical incidents since 2014. The one Libyan case identified during the time period under review was the son of former dictator Mu’ammar al-Qadhafi being rendered from Niger without due process. Dissidents from the other six countries that conduct physical transnational repression also face a constant stream of “everyday” transnational repression that includes coercion by proxy, digital threats, and spyware. All six countries have earned a reputation for harassing and detaining the family members of exiles as a tool of pressure.328 Everyday tactics also include some of the boldest spyware development and deployment in the world, such as the UAE’s alleged use of cell phone tracking in an attempt to locate and render a princess who fled the country,329 and Bahrain and Saudi Arabia’s remote hacking of dissidents’ phones to record 50 @FreedomHouse their conversations, movements, and activities.330 In all six countries, mobility controls were also used to limit exiled dissidents’ travel, or to isolate their family members within the country of origin. Aside from Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, which are examined in their own case studies, Egypt accounts for the vast majority of physical incidents in the region, with 42 physical incidents in the time period under review. Egypt’s transnational repression campaign is tightly connected to its brutal domestic crackdown following the 2013 coup in which elected president Mohamed Morsi was ousted. Authorities have arrested tens of thousands within Egypt and have pursued dissidents abroad, especially those connected to the Muslim Brotherhood, which has been outlawed in Egypt as a terrorist organization. In terms of tactics, the government has conducted renditions of 16 individuals from Malaysia, Kuwait, the UAE, and Lebanon. In all of these cases local law enforcement appears to have cooperated with Egyptian authorities, detaining people at #TransnationalRepression