Freedom House plotted the assassination of an exiled journalist in 2021. The Chinese and other governments routinely block independent groups from gaining consultative status. In 94 percent of instances in which the committee has deferred an NGO’s application, a question was raised by a member state from an unofficial cohort of mostly authoritarian governments, sometimes called the Like-Minded Group.87 The group includes many state perpetrators of transnational repression, including Algeria, Belarus, Egypt, India, Iran, Pakistan, Syria, and Vietnam.88 The abuse of Interpol, the International Criminal Police Organization, by authoritarian states seeking to detain and extradite dissidents from other countries illustrates the extent to which membership in international organizations can be manipulated for the purposes of transnational repression. Despite the fact that Interpol’s constitution forbids “any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character,”89 governments regularly use spurious accusations of criminality, disseminated via notices and diffusions, to have exiles detained or deported. They also use the system to falsely report passports as lost or stolen, which can prevent exiles from traveling internationally or cause them to be detained when they attempt to do so. It is a relatively easy, inexpensive means of cross-border targeting. In 2021, authorities in Russia, China, Turkey, and Bahrain were able to have individuals detained in Poland, Morocco, Kenya, Serbia, and Italy on the basis of Interpol’s Red Notices. In most cases, the individuals had engaged in political or civic activism. One Uyghur human rights defender, Idris Hasan, was arrested on an Interpol notice issued by Beijing when he landed at the airport in Casablanca, Morocco, in July 2021. Chinese officials claimed that Hasan was a member of a terrorist organization, a common assertion against Uyghurs. Even though Interpol canceled the notice shortly after his arrest, and UN experts have expressed their concern that he faces the risk of torture if repatriated, Hasan was awaiting deportation to China at the time of writing.90 Interpol abuse is the most well-understood form of transnational repression within the international system, thanks to years of work by civil society. Nevertheless, misuse of Interpol’s system, supported by technological developments, has outpaced attempts at oversight. Of the states that engage in physical transnational repression, at least 13 have also used Interpol notices to reach people abroad since 2014. Five members of Interpol’s 13-member executive committee represent governments that engage in transnational repression.91 The organization’s president, a delegate from the United Arab Emirates, was elected in November 2021.92 Electing representatives from states that engage in transnational repression to leadership positions legitimizes their abuse of the system. In 2021, authorities in Russia, China, Turkey and Bahrain were able to have individuals detained in Poland, Morocco, Kenya, Serbia, and Italy on Red Notices. In March 2022, the governments of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States called on Interpol to suspend Russian authorities’ access to its systems.93 However, the move was spurred by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, not its past abuse of the organization’s functions, which has even managed to trigger the detention of individuals seeking asylum in the United States. Because of its authoritarian-leaning membership, the executive committee voted against Russia’s suspension, though Russian officials’ activities will be subject to additional oversight.94 Interpol also recently reinstated Syria’s status, reversing a 2011 decision to implement “corrective measures” and disallow the Syrian regime from using Interpol’s systems to issue notices. Observers noted concerns that the government of President Bashar al-Assad could use Interpol to target the world’s 6.8 million Syrian refugees and asylum seekers.95 The utility and blind spots of documentation and awareness Despite the influence of authoritarian states, certain international groups and mechanisms that are designed to track human rights abuses have successfully documented incidents of transnational repression, thereby contributing to increased awareness of the phenomenon. Credible, high-profile investigations of specific cases serve to inform civil society organizations’ work on the issue, offer policymakers concrete evidence around which to develop responses, affirm the experiences of targeted diasporas, and impose reputational costs on perpetrators. However, documentation is incidental; only some cases, emerging freedomhouse.org 23