The House of Representatives is working on three bipartisan bills to address transnational repression. According to the FBI, transnational repression happens when foreign governments stalk, intimidate or assault people in the United States.
In countries like Russia, China and Turkey, where oppressive regimes reign, criticizing the government can get someone jailed or killed. However, those governments also send their enforcers into the United States, hoping to silence their citizens living here and even Americans.
Former NBA first round pick Enes Kanter Freedom became a victim of repression after he criticized the Turkish government.
“Then I began to call out human rights violations by President Erdogan in my home country,” Freedom told a House Homeland Security subcommittee. “The Turkish government asked the U.S. government to extradite me, canceled my passport, put my name on Interpol list, imprisoned my father, and set a $500,000 bounty on my head.”
“Unfortunately, in some countries around the world, freedom of expression, civil rights, civil liberties are backsliding and we need to make sure that here in the United States we do what we can to protect people,” Rep. Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., told Straight Arrow News.
To understand how aggressive these governments can be, this is what Turkey did to the 6’5″, 250 pound NBA center.
“In 9 years, I received 12 arrest warrants and countless death threats,” Freedom said. “They tried to attack me in front of a mosque in Boston. They run social media campaigns against me so their fanatics could harass me or attack me when they see me. They pressured American universities, NGOs and political groups to cancel their events with me.”
Transnational repression can take the form of hacking, assaults, attempted kidnapping, forced or coerced return to the country of origin, threats to detain family in home countries, and freezing financial assets.
The typical targets are human rights activists, dissidents, political opponents, religious or ethnic minority groups and journalists.
The House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence held a markup on Thursday, March 7, to prepare the bills for a vote on the House floor.
“The heart of the issue, again, lies at them thinking that they can threaten people, Americans, on American soil,” Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, said. “This is a step in identifying and allowing these victims at least an outlet to feel protected, safe and secure.”
If signed into law, the legislation would create a dedicated office within the Department of Homeland Security to analyze, monitor and prevent transnational repression, establish a hotline, conduct a public service announcement campaign, and develop a training program for state and local officials.
“We know that there are hundreds, if not thousands of others who are being targeted, being threatened, but don’t know where to go,” Magaziner said. “We also know that this is happening under the noses of state and local law enforcement who just don’t have the training to identify what’s going on and know what to do about it.”
The bills still need to be approved in both chambers of Congress and signed by the president. The sponsors hope their bipartisanship will help get that done.
