Transnational Authoritarianism
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Transnational repression is a type of
political repression Political repression is the act of a state entity controlling a citizenry by force for political reasons, particularly for the purpose of restricting or preventing the citizenry's ability to take part in the political life of a society, thereby ...
conducted by a state outside its borders. It often involves targeting political dissidents or critical members of
diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of birth, place of origin. The word is used in reference to people who identify with a specific geographic location, but currently resi ...
communities abroad and can take the forms of assassinations and/or
enforced disappearance An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person with the support or acquiescence of a State (polity), state followed by a refusal to acknowledge the person's fate or whereabouts with the i ...
s of citizens, among others.
Freedom House Freedom House is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. It is best known for political advocacy surrounding issues of democracy, Freedom (political), political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, wi ...
has documented its rise worldwide in recent years. Incidents that occur in the United States have been investigated by such agencies as the
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
. 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 Autocracy is a form of government in which absolute power is held by the head of state and government, known as an autocrat. It includes some forms of monarchy and all forms of dictatorship, while it is contrasted with democracy and feudalism. ...
to develop strategies aiming to manage their citizens' migration. According to
political scientist Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
Gerasimos Tsourapas, global autocracies engage in complex strategies of transnational repression,
legitimation Legitimation, legitimization ( US), or legitimisation ( UK) is the act of providing legitimacy. Legitimation in the social sciences refers to the process whereby an act, process, or ideology becomes legitimate by its attachment to norms and val ...
, and co-optation, as well as
cooperation Cooperation (written as co-operation in British English and, with a varied usage along time, coöperation) takes place when a group of organisms works or acts together for a collective benefit to the group as opposed to working in competition ...
with
non-state actor A non-state actor (NSA) is an individual or organization that has significant political influence but is not allied to any particular country or state. The interests, structure, and influence of NSAs vary widely. For example, among NSAs are non-pr ...
s. Countries with more robust democracies are much less likely to pursue transnational repression. Some of these countries have been criticized for not doing enough to protect foreign nationals living in their countries. Cooperation between countries has been more common when the two countries have had close economic ties. ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' reported that the frequency of cases 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 allow for more communication across countries. While this term is relatively new, such repressive actions have been documented for decades. According to a February 2025 report by
Freedom House Freedom House is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. It is best known for political advocacy surrounding issues of democracy, Freedom (political), political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, wi ...
, the
People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
is responsible for about 22 percent of all cases of transnational repression, followed by Turkey, Tajikistan, Russia, Egypt, and Cambodia.


Typology of transnational repression

Sociologist Dana M. Moss, who coined the term 'transnational repression' in 2016, categorized repression into six types: According to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, transnational repression can take place in multiple interconnected ways, leading to threats and actions against targets in foreign countries involving local actors or authorities in those locations. Prevalent tactics are: * Acts of violence and intimidation outside the country * Harassment through extradition requests, unlawful arrests or deportations * Abuses of (security) laws with extraterritorial provisions * Impediments to mobility * Digital threats or attacks * Proxy punishment of in-country relatives or associates


History


Soviet Union

Bulgarian dissident writer
Georgi Markov Georgi Ivanov Markov ( ; 1 March 1929 – 11 September 1978) was a Bulgarian dissident writer. He originally worked as a novelist, screenwriter and playwright in his native country, the People's Republic of Bulgaria, until his defection in 196 ...
was assassinated on a
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
street via a micro-engineered pellet that might have contained
ricin Ricin ( ) is a lectin (a carbohydrate-binding protein) and a highly potent toxin produced in the seeds of the castor oil plant, ''Ricinus communis''. The median lethal dose (LD50) of ricin for mice is around 22 micrograms per kilogram of body ...
. Contemporary newspaper accounts reported that he had been stabbed in the leg with an
umbrella An umbrella or parasol is a folding canopy supported by wooden or metal ribs that is mounted on a wooden, metal, or plastic pole. It is usually designed to protect a person against rain. The term ''umbrella'' is traditionally used when protec ...
delivering a poisoned pellet, wielded by someone associated with the Bulgarian Secret Service. Annabel Markov recalled her husband's view about the umbrella, telling the BBC's ''
Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek language, Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any Obtuse angle, wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography (panoramic photography), film, seismic image ...
'' programme, in April 1979, "He felt a jab in his thigh. He looked around and there was a man behind him who'd apologized and dropped an umbrella. I got the impression as he told the story that the jab hadn't been inflicted by the umbrella but that the man had dropped the umbrella as cover to hide his face." It was reported after the fall of the Soviet Union that the Soviet
KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...
had assisted the Bulgarian Secret Service.


Chile

In 1976 an exiled government official belonging to
Salvador Allende Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 1970 until Death of Salvador Allende, his death in 1973 Chilean coup d'état, 1973. As a ...
's democratically elected socialist government which had been ousted 3 years prior in a military coup, Orlando Letelier, was assassinated in a planted car bombing orchestrated in broad daylight within the US capital city of
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
The murder was carried out by the military regime's secret police as part of its policy of targeting and silencing political opposition, with the intent of dearticulating potential resistance to the military order not just from within Chile but also from those nationals who might exercise and advocate for dissident pressure abroad. The assassination became one of many exemplary cases of the extensive violent political repression carried out by right-wing military juntas of South America during the
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
under the umbrella of
Operation Condor Operation Condor (; ) was a campaign of political repression by the right-wing dictatorships of the Southern Cone of South America, involving intelligence operations, coups, and assassinations of left-wing sympathizers in South America which fo ...
.


Governments accused

By 2024, some 44 countries have been documented as committing transnational repression, according to Freedom House. The organization noted that it has become a more common practice worldwide. According to a February 2025 report by
Freedom House Freedom House is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. It is best known for political advocacy surrounding issues of democracy, Freedom (political), political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, wi ...
, China is responsible for about 22 percent of all cases of transnational repression, followed by Turkey, Tajikistan, Russia, Egypt, Cambodia, Turkmenistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, and Belarus. A 2024
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...
report documented 75 cases between 2009 and 2024, which were committed by more than two dozen governments, including
Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...
,
Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...
,
Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...
,
Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...
,
Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
,
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...
,
South Sudan South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...
,
Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
,
Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...
, and the
UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a federal elective monarchy made up of seven emirates, with Abu Dhabi serving as i ...
. Countries with more robust democracies are much less likely to pursue transnational repression. Some have been criticised for not doing enough to protect foreign nationals or people of the diasporas 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 The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Assembly is made up of ...
passed a resolution on October 1, 2024, that defended
Julian Assange Julian Paul Assange ( ; Hawkins; born 3 July 1971) is an Australian editor, publisher, and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. He came to international attention in 2010 after WikiLeaks published a series of News leak, leaks from Chels ...
for his 'journalistic work' and reiterated its condemnation of all forms and practices of transnational repression.


Belarus

During the
United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...
briefing in October 2022 on the ICAO report about Belarus' diversion of Ryanair Flight 4978, after whose landing opposition activist and journalist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega were arrested by Belarusian authorities, the United States ambassador to the UN for Special Political Affairs, Jeffrey DeLaurentis, described the act as a violation of international aviation law and of transnational repression. The United States Mission to the
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the p ...
further delivered a statement on behalf of its country, as well as Canada and the United Kingdom, describing the diversion as "a blatant act of transnational repression".


China

The
Center for American Progress The Center for American Progress (CAP) is a public policy think tank, research and advocacy organization which presents a Modern liberalism in the United States, liberal viewpoint on Economic policy, economic and social issues. CAP is headquarter ...
reported in 2022 that some of the most notable transnational repression efforts of the
government of the People's Republic of China The government of the People's Republic of China is based on a system of people's congress within the parameters of a Unitary state, unitary communist state, in which the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) enacts its policies through people's ...
, such as the Causeway Bay Books disappearances, have been coordinated by the
Ministry of Public Security Ministry of Public Security can refer to: * Ministry of Justice and Public Security (Brazil) * Ministry of Public Security of Burundi * Ministry of Public Security (Chile) * Ministry of Public Security (China) * Ministry of Public Security of Co ...
(MPS). The report called for initiatives to better understand the MPS's activities overseas. In July 2023, the United States Department of State classified the
Hong Kong Police Force The Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) is the primary law enforcement, investigative agency, and largest Hong Kong Disciplined Services, disciplined service under the Security Bureau (Hong Kong), Security Bureau of Hong Kong. Pursuant to the one c ...
's bounties on eight prominent dissidents living abroad as an instance of "transnational repression efforts." In April 2023, the
United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...
indicted Chinese operatives for crimes related to a transnational repression campaign using 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 The United States secretary of state (SecState) is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The secretary of state serves as the principal advisor to the ...
Antony Blinken Antony John Blinken (born April 16, 1962) is an American lawyer and diplomat who served as the 71st United States secretary of state from 2021 to 2025. He previously served as Deputy National Security Advisor, deputy national security advisor ...
characterized the
Chinese government The government of the People's Republic of China is based on a system of people's congress within the parameters of a Unitary state, unitary communist state, in which the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) enacts its policies through people's ...
's attempts to silence
Uyghur Uyghur may refer to: * Uyghurs, a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia (West China) ** Uyghur language, a Turkic language spoken primarily by the Uyghurs *** Old Uyghur language, a different Turkic language spoken in the Uyghur K ...
activists outside its borders as part of a campaign of transnational repression. A 2023 report published by the
University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...
called for increased use of Magnitsky legislation in response to the transnational repression of the
Uyghur Uyghur may refer to: * Uyghurs, a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia (West China) ** Uyghur language, a Turkic language spoken primarily by the Uyghurs *** Old Uyghur language, a different Turkic language spoken in the Uyghur K ...
diaspora. This repression has increased in 2024 according to some Uyghur exiles. In 2023, ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' reported that China supported violent counterprotestors who attempted to silence criticism of
Xi Jinping Xi Jinping, pronounced (born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has been the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China), chairman of the Central Military Commission ...
at the APEC United States 2023 summit in
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
. The
Index on Censorship Index on Censorship is an organisation campaigning for freedom of expression. It produces a quarterly magazine of the same name from London. It is directed by the non-profit-making Writers and Scholars International, Ltd (WSI) in association wit ...
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 political activism against the regime faced harassment and retribution directly or through family members living in China. In 2019, a student was jailed for six months when he returned to China over tweets he had posted while studying at the
University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...
in the US; a Chinese district court held that the tweets "defaced the image of the country's leaders" and sentenced the student "for provocation". In February 2025, Thailand deported 40 male Uyghur asylum seekers back to
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
. While other countries offered resettlement, Thailand confirmed that sending the Uyghurs elsewhere could risk retaliation from China.


Egypt

A report by
Mohamed Soltan Mohamed Soltan (, born 16 November 1987) is an Egyptian American human rights advocate and former political prisoner in Egypt. He co-founded and leads the Freedom Initiative, a U.S.-based human rights organization whose mission is "to bring in ...
's nonprofit Freedom Initiative stated that Egypt has become "... more innovative and emboldened" in carrying out acts of transnational repression. Actions include targeting dissidents in the United States.


India

In 2023, the
Sikh Coalition The Sikh Coalition is a Sikhism in the United States, Sikh-American non-profit advocacy group that defends Sikh civil rights founded in 2001 with offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Fremont, California. The Sikh Coalition, was origina ...
wrote to the United States government to warn about
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
n transnational repression and rising Hindu nationalist threats in the US in the aftermath of the killing in Canada of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen. The Canadian government is investigating what it said were 'credible allegations of a potential link' in Nijjar's death to the Indian government.


Iran

On 9 November 2023, former European Parliament Vice-president
Alejo Vidal-Quadras Alejo Vidal-Quadras Roca (born 20 May 1945) is a Spanish former politician and radiation physicist. Born in Barcelona, he served as a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2014 and served as First Vice President of the European Parlia ...
was shot in the face in
Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
, Spain, an attack that he survived. Iran was suspected to be related to the assassination attempt and the attack has been described as an act of transnational repression, including by the
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
. A
United States Treasury Department The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current U.S. government departments. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and ...
press release declared that: "The inistry of Intelligence and Securityand Iran's
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), also known as the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, is a multi-service primary branch of the Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces, Iranian Armed Forces. It was officially established by Ruhollah Khom ...
(IRGC) have long targeted perceived regime opponents in acts of transnational repression outside of Iran, a practice that the regime has accelerated in recent years."
Freedom House Freedom House is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. It is best known for political advocacy surrounding issues of democracy, Freedom (political), political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, wi ...
also included journalist
Masih Alinejad Masih Alinejad (, born Masoumeh Alinejad-Ghomikolayi (), September 11, 1976) is an Iranian Americans, Iranian-American journalist, author, and women's rights activist. Alinejad works as a presenter/producer at Voice of America Persian News Networ ...
's kidnapping plan among Iran's transnational repression tactics.


Russia

As of 2024, Russia has focused its repression on anti-war and other political activists as well as journalists; it ranks among the most active perpetrators of transnational repression in the world. Russia has a history of transnational repression that was documented in the Tsarist regimes.


Saudi Arabia

A report by
Mohamed Soltan Mohamed Soltan (, born 16 November 1987) is an Egyptian American human rights advocate and former political prisoner in Egypt. He co-founded and leads the Freedom Initiative, a U.S.-based human rights organization whose mission is "to bring in ...
's nonprofit Freedom Initiative stated that, like Egypt, Saudi Arabia has become "... more innovative and emboldened" in carrying out acts of transnational repression. As of 2024, ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' reported Saudi Arabia as one of the major perpetrators of transnational repression in the world.


Turkey

In June 2023, the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Assembly is made up of ...
stated that Turkey's failure to ratify Sweden's NATO membership bid is part of its campaign of transnational repression. It called 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.


United Arab Emirates

The Egyptian-Turkish poet Abdulrahman Al-Qaradawi has been detained in Abu Dhabi since January 2025 despite having no criminal record in or legal ties to the UAE. Al-Qaradawi had been living in exile since 2014 due to his and his father's dissident views against the Egyptian government, and remained critical of multiple Arab governments while abroad. Al-Qaradawi was detained at the Lebanese border with Syria and flown to the UAE, prompting statements of concern from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and PEN International.


United States

In 2011, the United States assassinated US citizens
Anwar al-Awlaki Anwar Nasser Abdulla al-Awlaki (; April 21 or 22, 1971September 30, 2011) was an American-Yemeni lecturer assassinated Drone strikes in Yemen, in Yemen in 2011 by a U.S. government drone strike ordered by President Barack Obama. Al-Awlaki was th ...
and Samir Khan in Yemen over their suspected affiliation with
Al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...
. al-Awlaki's 16-year-old son Abdulrahman, also a US citizen, was killed in a separate strike weeks later. The question of the extrajudicial assassination of US citizens, as well as their indefinite military detention, has been debated by constitutional scholars and judges, with the difficulty of justifiably designating US citizens as enemy combatants due to the undefined nature of the War on Terror being a key point of contention. Supporters of the assassination and extrajudicial detention of US citizens in the War on Terror have argued that the expansion of presidential war powers in the 2001 AUMF and subsequent US court cases such as '' Hamdi v. Rumsfeld'' make these actions legal under US law, while critics such as Norman Pollack contend that the secrecy of the drone war makes it impossible for those without access to classified intelligence to adequately judge the ethics and legality of overseas killings. J.D. Tuccille described the forced grounding of Evo Morales' plane in 2013 on suspicion that it was transporting whistleblower Edward Snowden as an example of transnational repression by "even nominally free countries."


Responses


United States

In December 2021, the US passed the Transnational Repression Accountability and Prevention (TRAP) Act as part of the
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 (; NDAA 2022Pub.L. 117-81 is a United States federal law which specifies the budget, expenditures and policies of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) for fiscal year 2022. Analogous N ...
. The law aims to combat abuse of
Interpol notice An Interpol notice is an international alert circulated by Interpol to communicate information about crimes, criminals, and threats by police in a member state (or an authorised international entity) to their counterparts around the world. The in ...
s. 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 operating in the United States. In October 2023, the
Government Accountability Office The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent, nonpartisan government agency within the legislative branch that provides auditing, evaluative, and investigative services for the United States Congress. It is the s ...
reported that the US does not have adequate laws to combat acts of transnational repression.


See also

* Conspiracy against rights *
Extraordinary rendition Extraordinary rendition is a euphemism, euphemistically-named policy of state-sponsored abduction in a foreign jurisdiction and transfer to a third state. The best-known use of extraordinary rendition is in a United States-led program during th ...
*
Extraterritorial abduction Extraterritorial abduction, also known as international abduction, is the practice of one country abducting someone from another country's territory outside the legal process of extradition. Extraordinary rendition is a form of extraterritorial abdu ...
*
Extraterritorial jurisdiction Extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) is the legal ability of a government to exercise authority beyond its normal boundaries. Any authority can claim ETJ over any external territory they wish. However, for the claim to be effective in the external ...
*
Extraterritorial operation An extraterritorial operation in international law is a law enforcement or military military operation, operation that takes place outside the territory or jurisdiction of the state whose forces are conducting the operation, generally within the te ...
* *
Long-arm jurisdiction Long-arm jurisdiction is the ability of local courts to exercise jurisdiction over foreign ("foreign" meaning out of jurisdiction, whether a state, province, or nation) defendants, whether on a statutory basis or through a court's inherent jurisdi ...
*
Political violence Political violence is violence which is perpetrated in order to achieve political goals. It can include violence which is used by a State (polity), state against other states (war), violence which is used by a state against civilians and non-st ...


References


Further reading


Report
by Freedom House (includes useful map visualization) *

' (2024) by Saipira Furstenberg and Dana Moss * {{Cite news , last=Applebaum , first=Anne , author-link=Anne Applebaum , date=2021-11-15 , title=The Bad Guys Are Winning , url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/12/the-autocrats-are-winning/620526/ , access-date=2024-11-18 , work=
The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...


External links

* Articles on transnational repression b
Coda Story''The Guardian''
Authoritarianism Political repression