OUT OF SIGHT, NOT OUT OF REACH The Global Scale and Scope of Transnational Repression to work jointly to investigate leads and information tips to address transnational repression in the United States. Many victims of transnational repression come from countries in which some law enforcement officials were involved in perpetrating abuses on behalf of the state. Building trust with targeted communities is critical to addressing transnational repression threats before they escalate. Communities that understand how law enforcement can protect them, and that outreach to law enforcement will not result in negative consequences for the community, are more resilient to coercion and surveillance. • Training on transnational repression should also be offered at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC). Federal law enforcement officers, including personnel for the Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security and other who may encounter perpetrators or victims of transnational repression receive training at FLETC. They should receive the training necessary to enable them to identify victims and perpetrators and refer to other agencies or officials when necessary. • Incorporate training into existing joint task forces that bring together federal, state and local law enforcement officers. In many situations, local law enforcement may be the first to hear about a threat against a diaspora community in the United States, but may not know the scope of the problem or about existing tools to address it. Providing training in identifying transnational repression threats to existing task forces that bring members of federal, state, and local law enforcement bodies together could encourage an general awareness of the threat and result in more effective responses to it. Provide proactive law enforcement training on transnational repression to better assist its victims and apprehend its perpetrators. Law enforcement officers should receive instruction on transnational repression to better identify signs of it during their work. Similar to what has been done to combat human trafficking in recent years, training in transnational repression threats should be incorporated into a variety of curriculums for law enforcement officers at the federal, state and local levels. • • 58 The FBI should offer training at a variety of levels throughout an agent’s or analyst’s career. Initial training for new agents and analysts is already quite extensive. Rather than adding a complex topic like transnational repression to an already rigorous set of courses, training could be offered once personnel receive their job assignments and are more acclimated to their jobs. Briefings and enterprise-wide instruction on transnational repression should be developed by personnel responsible for international human rights, counterintelligence, and cyber issues to conduct tailored victim outreach and enable the Bureau to address transnational repression in a comprehensive fashion. The FBI should also include training on transnational repression for national and international law enforcement officers receiving training at the National Academy, and for business and community leaders completing the Citizens Academy. The FBI’s National Academy offers professional training for national and international law enforcement officers in management positions. Its Citizens’ Academy, which offers trainings to community leaders in order to teach them about the FBI and its work, could be used to reach non-FBI members of the community. @FreedomHouse Recommendations for other democracies • Impose targeted sanctions on perpetrators of serious human rights violations through transnational repression. “Magnitsky Acts” provide a mechanism for travel bans and asset freezes for serious human rights violations. Imposing sanctions in particular for crimes of transnational repression would send a strong signal that perpetrators will be held accountable. Countries that possess Magnitsky laws should fully enforce them, countries that lack such legal authorities should enact them. • Strengthen refugee resettlement programs, including by increasing quotas for accepting refugees and streamlining resettlement procedures. Allowing countries like Turkey and Thailand to become bottlenecks, where large numbers of asylum seekers are forced to wait for years for resettlement to a safe third country, encourages targeting in those countries. • Increase outreach to communities within democracies known to be targets for transnational repression. Engagement with communities on this topic should not be a component of countering violent extremism (CVE) efforts. Although both require building community trust, the source of threat in these two areas is #TransnationalRepression