Freedom House Exporting authoritarianism: The effects of transnational repression in the United States F or this report, Freedom House interviewed 12 people living in the United States—citizens, permanent residents, and asylum seekers—who were targeted by foreign governments. Some of the people interviewed received threatening messages via phone calls and texts, or online. Others were surveilled at home or at work by people they suspected of working for foreign governments. Their family members abroad were intimidated. They were approached in public spaces or at events by strangers who urged them in menacing terms to stop their activism, or attempted to record them secretly. In at least one case, a targeted individual’s private property was damaged. Although their experiences varied, transnational repression— especially when involving multiple tactics—stripped away an individual’s sense of security. People experienced what one US-based Saudi activist described as “psychological and emotional warfare;” 5 an avalanche of threats, leaving their days consumed with worry about the security of their family at home and vulnerable relatives abroad. Unsafe, even at home Transnational repression engenders a deep sense of insecurity in the people who experience it. Claude Gatebuke, a Rwandan activist, received many threatening online, text, and phone messages since he began his activism against the regime of President Paul Kagame in the mid-2000s. Some messages called him a “traitor” or a “liar.” Others warned that he would be physically hurt. Some, including “We know the bullet that’s going to take you out,” left a lasting impression. Sardar Pashaei, a former champion wrestler and coach from Iran, started a campaign to save a fellow wrestler, Navid Afkari, back in Iran from a death sentence in 2020. The young man was accused of murder and participating in protests. Forced to confess under torture, he was eventually executed. Pashaei’s support of his fellow athlete and his outspokenness about the discrimination that minority and female athletic competitors face in Iran has spurred reprisals by Iranian authorities. Pashaei’s elderly parents and teenage niece in Iran have been repeatedly threatened and warned about the consequences of his activism. He has noticed strange men watching his home in Virginia. Pashaei knows that other Iranian activists living in the United States had been warned by the FBI that they are in danger of being kidnapped by the Iranian state. The looming threats have affected Pashaei’s daily life. He is worried about the safety of his immediate family. “When you don’t feel safe in your house in the US, that’s a disaster. That’s a shame… Where else on this planet should we go to feel safe? Because all our friends, they are dreaming of coming to the US. But now, nobody feels safe.” Intrusions into people’s private lives and homes are both disturbing and common. Samuel Chu, a Hong Kong–born American activist noticed a drone hover outside the windows of his home, apparently looking through his windows with a camera. Another activist targeted by China told Freedom House that people in vehicles were surveilling the office building as her organization was moving into it. “When you don’t feel safe in your house in the US, that’s a disaster. That’s a shame.” –Sardar Pashaei, Iranian-American activist A Saudi activist campaigning for the release of a family member held by Riyadh explained how the unending wave of threats have made her hypervigilant. “This is my self-alarm. I have to be very careful wherever I go, even in the US. If I see anything or anyone suspicious, I always try to be careful. This is the sense of feeling unsafe because of all of the threats, being monitored, being stalked by the Saudi government. It’s all basically to silence our voices.” 6 Mohamed Soltan, an Egyptian-American who grew up in the Midwest, was imprisoned in Egypt for two years for participating in protests that followed the military coup against President Mohamed Morsi in 2013. Soltan, who was released from prison in 2015, continued his activism in the United States, most recently by filing a suit against the Egyptian authorities for torturing him during his imprisonment.7 In retaliation, Egyptian authorities have imprisoned Soltan’s father and cousins.8 They have also threatened him online, formally requested his extradition, and freedomhouse.org 3