Transnational Repression – Congressional Hearing Comprehensive Notes

Opening Context

Hearing chaired by Rep. Jim McGovern (with Rep. Chris Smith as co-chair) under the bipartisan Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission.
Meeting delayed by House floor votes; room availability limited—multiple pauses for roll-call votes.
Purpose: revisit the issue of Transnational Repression (TNR) because of growing policy relevance and new multilateral developments (since the last hearing $frac{2023–2024}{1.5\text{ yrs}}$ ago).
Working definition offered: TNR = any tactic—physical, digital, legal, economic—used by a state (or its proxies) to violate human rights of individuals located outside that state’s territory.
Illustrative crimes: killings, abductions, enforced disappearances (e.g., suspected murder of Nicaraguan critic Roberto Sam in Costa Rica); online harassment; digital surveillance; intimidation of relatives at home; weaponised financial/legal frameworks.

Essential Global Facts & Numerical References

Freedom House database (covering $2014–2024$ ):
- $1,219$ verified physical TNR incidents across $103$ host countries.
- $160$ new physical cases added since Feb $2023$ hearing.
- $48$ perpetrator governments (≈ $\frac14$ of all states).
- $19$ governments confirmed to have deployed commercial spyware abroad.
- Top serial offenders: China (most sophisticated & comprehensive), Russia, Iran, Turkey, Egypt, Uzbekistan, Rwanda, Cambodia.
Cooperation problem: $\approx\tfrac23$ of incidents involve host-state authorities (e.g.
INTERPOL notices, extraditions, unlawful deportations).
OHCHR fact-sheet (May $2025$ ):
- Lists prevalent forms & effects; confirms non-state actors (tech firms, criminal networks, PMCs, media) can act “on request or with acquiescence” of states.
- Reaffirms duty of every state to “respect, protect, refrain from committing, enabling, or condoning” TNR.
G7 (Canada, May $2025$ ) issued first-ever Leaders’ Statement on TNR—promises:
- Develop “TNR Resilience & Response Framework”.
- Launch a Digital TNR Detection Academy.

U.S. Domestic Backdrop

Transnational Repression Policy Act (TRPA)—introduced last Congress by McGovern & Smith; update & re-introduction now under way with Sen. Jeff Merkley.
- Would mandate a government-wide definition, inter-agency strategy, improved reporting & protection measures.
FBI improvements: dedicated TNR information page, revamped toll-free intake, prosecution of several TNR plots (e.g., PRC police-station case in NYC).
Gaps identified: limited local-police awareness; burdensome evidentiary bar placed on victims; uneven inter-agency coordination.
Criticism of State Dept. policy (social-media “public profile” requirement for student visas) as a potential U.S.-origin act of TNR—creates chilling effect abroad.

Panel of Witnesses

Dr. Yana Gorokhovskaia (Research Director, Freedom House)
- Leads FH’s TNR work; Canadian political scientist (Ph.D.
  UBC).
Lyudmyla Kozlovska (President, Open Dialogue Foundation, Poland/Belgium)
- Focus on weaponised AML/CTF & cybersecurity laws.
Ahmad Noorani (Pakistani investigative journalist, founder of FactFocus)
- Survivor of 2017 assassination attempt; family abducted $2025$ .
Ria Chakrabarty (Sr. Policy Director, Hindus for Human Rights)
- Tracks Indian govt.’s global Hindutva-linked repression.
Joey Siu (Amnesty Intl. HK spokesperson; U.S. citizen)
- Student leader in 2019 protests; $1$ M HKD bounty issued $13\,Dec\,2023$ .
Paulo Figueiredo (Brazilian-American journalist)
- Targeted via INTERPOL red notices orchestrated by Justice Alexandre de Moraes.

Detailed Testimony Highlights

Freedom House Findings & Recommendations

Widespread nature: $48$ states using TNR; China unmatched in scale.
Host-state collaboration & multilateral police tools (INTERPOL, MLA, deportations) central to abuse.
Canadian Case Study
- Two drivers: PRC election interference & assassination of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar ( $June\,2023$ ).
- Responses: new criminal penalties for foreign-directed harassment; nationwide diaspora outreach meetings (federal + local police); leadership role in G7 statement.
Policy prescriptions
- Adopt single official U.S. definition.
- Mandatory TNR training for all law-enforcement tiers.
- Elevate TNR in bilateral & multilateral fora; deploy Magnitsky sanctions, visa bans, export controls (e.g.
  spyware).

Open Dialogue Foundation – “Transnational Financial Repression”

Authoritarian regimes now exploit FATF AML/CFT rules, cybersecurity & Mutual Legal Assistance to:
- Fabricate criminal cases / defamatory dossiers.
- Push banks, crypto-exchanges, crowdfunding sites to close accounts of NGOs, donors, family members.
Case 1: Barlik Mendygaziev (Kazakh-American businessman & philanthropist in Charlotte, NC)
- Refused to bribe Kazakh officials; funds diaspora charity; faces account closures & brother held as “political hostage” in Kazakhstan.
Case 2: Secret-service operatives from Kazakhstan filed Belgian cyber-complaints to access Kozlovska’s U.S./EU bank & travel data—Belgian courts rejected.
ODF forced to use Bitcoin P2P rails to deliver humanitarian aid to Ukraine (Feb $2022$ – present) after banking cut-offs.
Requests: GAO investigation; FinCEN advisory on AML weaponisation; Global Magnitsky sanctions on offenders; ensure privacy-preserving financial tech not stigmatised.

Pakistan – Ahmad Noorani

Timeline
- $Oct\,2017$ beaten with iron rod outside ISI HQ.
- Fired $Feb\,2019$ for posting Jamal Khashoggi’s photo.
- Scholars-at-Risk fellowship $2020$ (Missouri).
- Report on Gen.
  Bajwa $2022$ ⇨ legal onslaught.
- Exposé on current COAS Gen.
  Asim Munir $Mar\,2025$ ⇨ family (mother, brothers) abducted & tortured $33$ days; all family bank accts frozen; YouTube channel blocked.
Broader pattern: Arshad Sharif assassination (Kenya $2022$ ); journalist Dr.
Moeed Pirzada labeled terrorist; Nov $26$ $2024$ Islamabad massacre of protesters.
Demands: Congressional investigation; Magnitsky sanctions on Pakistani military/intel; human-rights conditionality on U.S. aid & arms; official classification of killings as crimes against humanity.

India & Hindu-Nationalist Ecosystem – Ria Chakrabarty

TNR episodes:
- Murder of Canadian Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar ( $18\,June\,2023$ ).
- Foiled plot to kill U.S.-based lawyer Gurpatwant Singh Pannun; DOJ indictment of Indian intel officer.
Toolkit used by GOI & BJP allies:
- Disinfo & troll armies; anti-Semitic narratives (Adani investigation); labeling U.S.
  NGOs as “terror fronts”.
- Social-media withholding orders: HFHR, IAMC, Sikh Coalition (X, Instagram).
- Visa denials/deportations (e.g.
  ABC journalist Avani Dias).
- Passport cancellations of Kashmiri Americans.
Policy asks:
- Invoke new State-Dept visa ban for censoring U.S. speech; consider sanctions/visa denial for Home Minister Amit Shah if evidence confirms murder plots; review arms sales under Arms Export Control Act §6; designate India “Country of Particular Concern” per USCIRF (six consecutive recommendations).

Hong Kong / PRC – Joey Siu

Personal: U.S. citizen; exiled $2020$ ; $13\,Dec\,2023$ HK police placed $1,000,000$ HKD bounty & NSL warrant (charge = “colluding with foreign forces” i.e.
U.S. advocacy).
Emails offering “life-insurance” & funeral plans received (thinly-veiled threats).
New TNR trends:
1. Bounty + Interpol notices to isolate exiles (total $19$ targets).
2. Article 23 (2024) – theft-of-state-secret & external-interference crimes with extraterritorial reach; sedition law revival; cancellation of passports & licenses.
3. Hostage-taking of relatives—families interrogated or charged (parallel to Uyghur/Tibetan cases).
U.S. actions sought:
- Make TNR a national-security priority; create inter-agency task force.
- Enforce FARA on PRC proxies (business, media, diaspora groups).
- Pass Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office Certification Act (close HKETOs in D.C., NY, SF).
- Sustain funding for NED, RFA, VOA.
- Expand humanitarian pathways (TPS, DED, refugee caps).

Brazil – Paulo Figueiredo

Allegations focus on Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes:
- $2019$ preventive arrest order & INTERPOL red notice over Trump-related politicised case; Figueiredo detained $17$ days in ICE’s Chrome facility; >$\$1 million legal fees.
- 2022 $new warrant, asset freezes, social-media blackout; secret arrest order claimed. </li> <li>Other victims: </li> <li>Journalist Allan dos Santos (on red notice$ 2 yrs).
- U.S.
  citizen Rodrigo Constantino.
- Michael Schellenberger (journalist).
- Lawmakers Eduardo Bolsonaro & Carla Zambelli.
- Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski (U.S.
  federal lawsuit; platform banned in Brazil).
- Fabricated CBP database entry used to jail ex-presidential aide Filipe Martins 6 mo.
Calls for U.S. Magnitsky sanctions on Moraes; stop automatic visa denial on INTERPOL red notices; legislate to curb misuse.

Key Themes from Q&A

Law-Enforcement Responsiveness

Survivors appreciate FBI’s new hotline but:
- High evidentiary threshold (e.g.
  CCTV demanded while Pakistan Army seized all footage).
- Need language services (Cantonese, Mandarin, Uyghur, Tibetan, etc.).
- Survivors fear cooperation after DHS visa & surveillance policies.
- Concern over informal FBI/CBP cooperation with foreign requests (Brazil case).
Recommendation: joint federal-local training; community-based outreach modeled on Canada.

Funding Cuts & U.S. Credibility

Freedom House lost new State-Dept grant Oct\,2024 $→ staff of only$ 3 left on TNR work; risk that research & victim support shrink.
NED & its core institutes (NDI, IRI, CIPE, Solidarity Center) face elimination under Trump budget; civil-society witnesses argue funding critical for exposing PRC police stations, documenting abuses (though Figueiredo claims NED funding aided partisan censorship in Brazil).
Congressional concern: double standards and erosion of moral authority (e.g.
social-media visa rules; deportations to El Salvador; Gaza policy).

Norm-Building & Legal Safeguards

OHCHR urges transparent extradition safeguards & strict non-refoulement; witnesses warn U.S. deportations of Venezuelans undermine stance.
Need for U.S. definition of TNR in statute; integrate into Magnitsky, export-control, and visa frameworks.
Encourage FinCEN advisory on AML/CFT abuse; restrict intelligence-sharing with known abusers.

Formulas / Statutes Referenced

Arms Export Control Act §6 $– restricts arms sales if buyer suppresses free expression. </li> <li>$ \text{Magnitsky Act} $– targeted sanctions for human-rights violators. </li> <li>$ \text{TPC}$$ = Country of Particular Concern (Intl Religious Freedom Act).

Ethical & Practical Implications

TNR erodes sanctuary principle of asylum, undermines host-state sovereignty & democratic deliberation.
Weaponised AML & tech rules chill humanitarian aid, philanthropic giving, investigative journalism.
Double standards damage U.S. “moral authority,” embolden autocrats, and weaken multilateral human-rights norms.

Recurring Witness Recommendations (Consolidated)

Statutory, whole-of-government TNR definition & strategy (via TRPA).
Community-centric protection programs; multilingual hotlines; survivor-informed services.
Training & MoUs for local police; forbid cooperation in politically motivated arrests.
FinCEN advisory + GAO study on AML/CFT weaponisation.
Expand Magnitsky sanctions lists (Pakistan generals, Indian Home Minister, HK/PRC officials, Brazil’s Moraes).
Pass Hong Kong ETO Act; maintain NED, RFA, VOA budgets.
Humanitarian pathways (TPS, DED, refugee resettlement) for at-risk diaspora.
Condition military & economic aid on anti-TNR safeguards (Pakistan, India, Brazil).

Closing Congressional Take-aways

Human-rights funding & programs are shrinking while TNR tactics expand—Congress urged to reverse cuts.
Bipartisan commitment remains (McGovern + Smith); TRPA update imminent.
U.S. must lead by example: cease policies that mirror TNR (e.g.
social-media vetting, opaque deportations) to preserve credibility.
Hearing adjourned with pledge to incorporate witness input into forthcoming legislation.