Transnational Repression Reporting Act of 2024

There have been allegations of transnational repression against United States persons or persons in the United States, including targeting political and human rights activists, journalists, and members of religious and ethnic minority groups.

A large number of diaspora communities have experienced a rise of incidents of intimidation, harassment, or, in some cases, violence in the United States. However, transnational repression against United States persons or persons in the United States appear to be on the rise particularly from India, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and China.

Preliminary investigations suggest that individuals associated with the Government of India may have played a role in orchestrating the 2023 attempted assassination of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a prominent Sikh activist living in New York. The attempted assassination of Pannun appears to have been an effort to silence his criticism of the Indian Government for his advocacy for the rights of Sikhs and the creation of an independent Sikh state, known as Khalistan, out of the Province of Punjab in India, for which the Government of India has declared Pannun a terrorist on the basis of sedition and secessionism. The attempted assassination of Pannun followed shortly after the successful assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June 2023 in Canada, for which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated that there was credible allegations of Indian involvement.

Saudi Arabia has engaged in a campaign of targeting critics, former members of the royal family, women fleeing gender-based discrimination, and journalists, as well as their families. Saudi Arabia sentenced Prince Abdullah bin Faisal al Saud to 30 years in prison after he discussed the imprisonment of a royal cousin and fellow prince. Prince Abdullah made the call from the United States while attending Northeastern University as a graduate student. United States citizens are no longer immune to these repressive measures. Saad al Madi, a United States citizen, was imprisoned for tweets he posted that were critical of the regime. Like Prince Abdullah, Saad al Madi made his comments in the United States but was arrested in Saudi Arabia while on a visit. While Saad Al Madi initially received a virtual life sentence, he has been released but remains in Saudi Arabia under a travel ban. Saudi Arabia was also responsible for the brutal murder of United States-based Washington Post columnist Jamal Khasshogi in a Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey in 2018.

Iran has targeted dissidents and critics in the United States for decades. Iran attempted to assassinate Masih Alinejad, an Iranian journalist and rights activist, in 2022. There are also credible allegations that Iran was involved in an assassination plot against an Iranian-American writer in New York and an Iranian defector living in Maryland, both in the early 2020s. In 1980, Iran was involved in the successful assassination of Ali Akbar Tabatabai, an Iranian dissident living in Bethesda, Maryland. His killer, Dawud Salahuddin, fled to Iran after the assassination, publicly confessing to the murder and claiming he received $5,000 from the Iranian Government carry it out. Iran has also engaged in assassination attempts against officials of the United States Government who were critical of the Iranian regime. A member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps allegedly hired an assassin in 2021 to murder former national security adviser John Bolton. And, most recently, Iran was implicated in a plot to assassinate former President Donald Trump in 2024. Iran was also implicated in a plot to murder the Saudi ambassador to the United States in 2012.

China has attempted to silence its critics by employing intimidation and harassment, particularly against members of the Chinese diaspora living in the United States but having relatives, citizenship, or financial ties to mainland China or Hong Kong. In November 2023, supporters of the Chinese Communist Party, with the aid of Chinese diplomats, attacked a group of protesters in San Francisco. The victims of the attack, most of whom had roots in China, East Turkestan, Hong Kong, or Tibet, had gathered to protest President Xi Jinping’s visit to the city. There is also credible evidence that China is repressing the freedoms of members of the Falun Gong, as well as hindering the business operations of the Shen Yun Performing Arts company. There is further evidence that China continues to repress members of Uyghur ethnic communities who are living abroad by threatening their relatives with detention. China has also conducted surveillance against Tibetan activists, using naturalized U.S. citizens of Chinese descent or Chinese agents to infiltrate and spy on members of pro-democracy groups in New York and other States.

Notwithstanding the importance of a bilateral relationship to the common interests of a stable and prosperous region, any such relationship should be based on an alignment of the shared values held in democratic institutions, fundamental human rights, and respect for international laws and norms.

Acts of transnational repression violate the sovereignty of nations, undermining the values that are foundational in relationships within the international community of nations.

Transnational repression results in victims through the silencing of critics and stifling speech, making it more difficult for individuals to express freedoms, and giving pause to the consideration of the potential costs for doing so.

Transnational repression puts in jeopardy a country’s standing and reputation within the international community as well as the bilateral relationship with the United States, requiring actions by the government committing such offenses that are commensurate with the seriousness of the violation.

Annual Report— Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Attorney General, in coordination with the heads of other relevant Federal agencies, shall submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees on cases of transnational repression. The report shall include, for the covered period, the following:

Cases— In preparing the first report under subsection (a), the Attorney General shall include cases of alleged transnational repression originating from the following countries:

Classification— Each report under subsection (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form and made available to the public. A classified annex shall be made available to the Members of the appropriate congressional committees, as needed, and maintained by the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate.

Privacy protection— In preparing the report under subsection (a), the Attorney General shall comply with all applicable privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties protections when identifying individuals who have been the target of transnational repression.

Covered period— In this section, the term covered period means—

Transnational Repression— The term transnational repression means any activity of a foreign government, or an agent of a foreign government or a proxy thereof, that—

Relevant Federal Agencies— The term relevant Federal agencies means the Department of State, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and any other agency determined appropriate by the Attorney General.

Appropriate Congressional Committees— The term appropriate congressional committees means the Committee on the Judiciary of the House or Representatives, the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives, the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate, the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate, and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate.

United States person— The term United States person means a citizen of the United States or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence (as defined in section 101(a)(20) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(20))), and includes minors.