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Transnational repression is a type of political repression conducted by a state outside its borders. It often involves targeting political dissidents or critical members of diaspora communities abroad and can take the forms of assassinations and/or enforced disappearances of citizens, among others. Freedom House has documented its rise worldwide in recent years, prompting response from agencies such as the FBI.

International relations scholar Laurie Brand asserts that autocracies face specific challenges and opportunities in the international sphere that affect authoritarian practices. Specifically, the rise of transnationalism and practices that transcend national borders have led autocracies to develop strategies aiming to manage their citizens' migration. According to political scientist Gerasimos Tsourapas, global autocracies engage in complex strategies of transnational repression, legitimation, and co-optation as well as cooperation with non-state actors. Countries with more robust democracies are much less likely to pursue transnational repression though some receive criticism as not doing enough to protect those living in their countries. Cooperation between countries was more common when the two countries had close economic ties.

The amount of transnational repression worldwide seems to be increasing as of 2024, due in part to some authoritarian governments responding to how globalization and the internet that allow for more communication across countries. While a relatively new term, the phenomenon dates back decades. As of 2023, China has been the most active country engaged in transnational repression by a significant margin, accounting for a quarter of all cases documented by Freedom House.

Typology of transnational repression

Sociologist Dana M. Moss, who coined the term 'transnational repression' in 2016, categorized repression into six types:

Governments accused

44 countries have been documented of committing transnational repression by 2024, according to Freedom House. The organization noted that it has become a more common practice worldwide. As of 2023, China has been the most active country engaged in transnational repression by a significant margin. According to Freedom House, the most prolific actors involved in transnational repression from 2014-2023, in addition to China, were the governments of Turkey, Egypt, Tajikistan, Russia and Uzbekistan. Other nations of concern included Iran, India, Pakistan, Rwanda, and Saudi Arabia. A 2024 Human Rights Watch report documented 75 cases between 2009 and 2024 committed by over two dozen governments, which also included Algeria, Bahrain, Belarus, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, South Sudan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, and the UAE.

Countries with more robust democracies are much less likely to pursue transnational repression though some receive criticism as not doing enough to protect those living in their countries. Cooperation between countries was more common when the two countries had close economic ties. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe passed a resolution on October 1, 2024 that defended Julian Assange for his 'journalistic work' and reiterated its condemnation of all forms and practices of transnational repression.

China

A 2022 Center for American Progress reported that some of the most notable transnational repression efforts of the Chinese government, such as the Causeway Bay Books disappearances, have been coordinated by the Ministry of Public Security (MPS). The report called for initiatives to better understand the MPS' activities overseas. In July 2023, the United States Department of State labeled the Hong Kong Police Force's bounties on eight prominent dissidents living abroad as an instance of "transnational repression efforts."

In April 2023, the United States Department of Justice indicted Chinese operatives with crimes related to a transnational repression campaign utilizing a Chinese police overseas service station in Manhattan. Following the indictments, the FBI described seeing an "inflection point in the tactics and tools and the level of risk and the level of threat" in transnational repression.

In March 2022, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken characterized the Chinese government's attempts to silence Uyghur activists outside its borders as part of a campaign of transnational repression. A 2023 report published by the University of Sheffield called for increased use of Magnitsky legislation in response to the transnational repression of the Uyghur diaspora. This repression has increased in 2024 according to some Uyghur exiles.

In 2023, The Washington Post reported on how China supported violent counterprotestors who attempted to silence criticism of Xi Jinping at the APEC United States 2023 summit in San Francisco. The Index on Censorship has described the Chinese government's attempts to censor artist Badiucao's overseas exhibitions as an example of transnational repression.

As of 2024, Chinese students studying abroad who engaged in activism faced harassment and retribution directly or through family members living in China.

Egypt

A report by Mohamed Soltan's nonprofit Freedom Initiative stated that Egypt has become "... more innovative and emboldened" in carrying out acts of transnational repression.

India

In 2023, the Sikh Coalition wrote to the United States government to warn about Indian transnational repression and rising Hindu nationalist threats in the US in the aftermath of the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen. The Canadian government is investigating what it said were 'credible allegations of a potential link' to the Indian government.

Russia

As of 2024, Russia has focused its repression on anti-war and other political activists as well as journalists and is one of the biggest perpetrators of transnational repression in the world. Russia has a history of transnational repression going back to the Tsarist regimes.

Saudi Arabia

A report by Mohamed Soltan's nonprofit Freedom Initiative stated that Saudi Arabia has become "... more innovative and emboldened" in carrying out acts of transnational repression. As of 2024, Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest perpetrators of transnational repression in the world.

Turkey

In June 2023, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe stated that Turkey's failure to ratify Sweden's NATO membership bid is part of its campaign of transnational repression, calling upon Turkey to end its intimidation of exiled journalist Bülent Keneş and to both recognise and respect the Swedish Supreme Court's decision not to extradite him.

Defenses

United States

In December 2021, the Transnational Repression Accountability and Prevention (TRAP) Act became law as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022. The law aims to combat abuse of Interpol notices.

In March 2023, a bipartisan group of United States senators introduced the Transnational Repression Policy Act. The proposed law would mandate that the intelligence community identify and share information about perpetrators of transnational repression in the United States. In October 2023, the Government Accountability Office reported that the US does not have adequate laws to combat acts of transnational repression.

See also

• Conspiracy against rights
• Extraordinary rendition
• Extraterritorial abduction
• Extraterritorial jurisdiction
• Extraterritorial operation
• Interpol § Abusive requests for Interpol arrests
• Long-arm jurisdiction
• Political violence

References

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Further reading

• Report by Freedom House (includes useful map visualization)
• Transnational Repression in the Age of Globalization (2024) by Saipira Furstenberg and Dana Moss
• Applebaum, Anne (2021-11-15). "The Bad Guys Are Winning". The Atlantic. ISSN 2151-9463. Retrieved 2024-11-18.

External links

• Articles on transnational repression by Coda Story, The Guardian

• Authoritarianism
• Political repression