DEFENDING DEMOCRACY IN EXILE Policy Responses to Transnational Repression Recommendations for improving the US response to transnational repression at home and abroad Raising awareness about the threat of transnational repression Ensure that law enforcement officials, personnel at key agencies, and those working with refugees are trained to recognize transnational repression. Law enforcement officials and agency personnel can play a central role in protecting exiles who are targeted. For example, timely diplomatic intervention, whether public or private, in isolation or in coordination with other states, can be the difference between an unlawful deportation and freedom for a targeted individual. Personnel at key agencies should receive training to help them identify potential perpetrators and victims of transnational repression, and on the relevant laws that can be invoked to combat transnational repression and mitigate harm. These key agencies include the Department of State; the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE); the Department of Justice, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); other federal, state, and local law enforcement officials receiving instruction at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, and business and community leaders completing the Citizens Academy; and employees of the Department of Health and Human Service’s Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). Training programs should be ongoing, taking place periodically across levels of seniority. Ensure comprehensive reporting on transnational repression in State Department’s Human Rights Reports. Since 2019, US State Department Country Reports on Human Rights Practices have included a section on “politically motivated reprisals against individuals located outside the country.” This section should be strengthened and made consistent across all country reports to help create a more robust record of transnational repression, encourage greater awareness of the phenomenon, and help officials better respond to the problem. A provision included in the FY23 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) requires the Departments of Justice and State to produce biannually a report detailing, among other things, “a list of countries that the Attorney General and the Secretary determine have repeatedly abused and misused the Red Notice and diffusion 12 @FreedomHouse mechanisms for political purposes.” The countries highlighted in this joint report and the details about their misuse of Interpol should be included in the relevant State Department Human Rights Reports. Issue travel advisories about countries engaging in transnational repression. Potential targets of transnational repression are at particular risk when traveling abroad, and US citizens and residents have been targeted while outside of the United States. The US Department of State provides travel advisories regarding issues abroad that may impact the safety and security of American travelers. This information, which typically includes details about terrorist and security threats, crime, civil unrest, and health and environmental risks, is intended to help US citizens make informed decisions about whether or not to travel abroad. Advisories should be issued about countries whose governments engage in transnational repression or where acts of transnational repression frequently occur. Establish standardized outreach procedures for vulnerable communities. In August 2021, the FBI began to issue unclassified counterintelligence bulletins describing the risks faced by Uyghurs and other diaspora groups from transnational repression. The bulletins contained information on specific incidents and directed individuals to contact the FBI if they had experienced targeting. In February 2022, the FBI launched a website devoted to transnational repression with information on tactics, hyperlinks to recent indictments, and contact information for reporting. The FBI should continue producing resources for vulnerable groups and publishing them in relevant languages. State and local law enforcement should conduct similar outreach as appropriate, and federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies should continue working jointly to investigate leads on suspected transnational repression in the United States. Many victims of transnational repression come from countries where law enforcement officials are involved in perpetrating abuses on behalf of the state, contributing to potential distrust of US law enforcement agents. 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 #TransnationalRepression