09/24/2025 – The International Strategic Action Network for Security examines the scope of transnational repression perpetrated by the Aliaksandr Lukashenka regime in Belarus, the current longest-serving leader in Europe. The specific instruments of transnational repression used by his regime are discussed in the report, including in absentia trials, harassment of relatives, digital surveillance, and violence. The final sections examine the symmetry of transnational repression practices by Belarus and Russia, as well as policy recommendations. 

Transnational Repression in Belarus: A Brutal Tool of the Persecution of Dissent by the Lukashenka Regime

08/26/2025 – This policy brief discusses how transnational repression, often disguised as counter-terrorism measures, undermines national security and erodes the rule of law within host countries. Included are targeted policy recommendations to strengthen national and international capacities to address transnational repression. 

The Use of Transnational Repression in the Name of Security: Implications and Concerns

7/30/2025 – In July 2025, the Joint Committee on Human Rights (a Parliamentary committee in the United Kingdom) released a report on transnational repression in the UK. The committee found that foreign governments were increasingly committing acts of transnational repression on British soil. Recommendations include the institution of government data collection and monitoring mechanisms, specialized training for police officers, and increased state pressure on INTERPOL to reform procedures. 

Transnational Repression in the UK

2/12/2025 – In February 2025, the Swiss Government (Federal Council) released the findings of a study it had commissioned regarding the transnational repression of Uyghurs in Switzerland from 2000 to the present. This is the first time that a national government has commissioned a study on the extent to which communities in exiles on its territory are experiencing transnational repression by a specific country. Known as the Weber report, the document concludes that Tibetan and Uyghur migrants in Switzerland are being monitored, threatened, and pressured by agents of the Chinese state. 

​The Situation of the Tibetan and Uyghur Communities in Switzerland: Actual and Perceived Exertions of Pressure (English)

The Situation of the Tibetan and Uyghur Communities in Switzerland: Actual and Perceived Exertions of Pressure (German)

2/6/2025 – Freedom House’s reflection on 10 years of data on transnational repression highlights key insights into how governments target exiles and diasporas abroad. The organization has documented over 1,200 incidents of transnational repression between 2014 and 2024, which were perpetrated by 48 governments across 103 countries.

​Physical transnational repression includes assassinations, abductions, assaults, detentions, and unlawful deportations. Freedom House notes that 10 regimes are responsible for almost 80% of cases, with China, Russia, Turkey, and Egypt as the top offenders.
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Ten Findings from Ten Years of Data on Transnational Repression 

11/26/2024 – An investigation by the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) reveals the Algerian government's strategy of transnational repression between 2020 and 2024, in which it systematically targeted activists, journalists, and human rights defenders living abroad. CIHRS uncovers several methods of transnational repression utilized by the Algerian state, including diplomatic pressure to detain or extradite activists, travel bans to restrict movements, and targeted harassment of activists' families and support networks in Algeria. 

"The Noose is Tightening Around Us:" Algeria's Use of Transnational Repression to Crackdown on Dissent

9/19/2024 ​– Representative Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) introduced the Transnational Repression Reporting Act of 2024, a bill that would require the Attorney General to submit a report of transnational repression cases against American citizens or people in the United States. Schiff previously introduced and reintroduced the Stop Transnational Repression Act in 2022 and 2023. 

The act is cosponsored by Representatives Daniel S. Goldman (D-N.Y.), David Valadao (R-Calif.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), James McGovern (D-Mass.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), and Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.). 

Schiff Introduces the Bipartisan Transnational Repression Reporting Act to Track Cases of Foreign Repression in the US

7/22/2024 – The Sikh Coalition's report discusses ongoing transnational repression of the Sikh community by the Indian state.  This resource includes a discussion on the historical context underpinning this repression, as well as a selection of case studies involving U.S.-based Sikhs. 

"So Many Targets:" Contextualizing Modern Indian Transnational Repression Against the Sikh Community

9/18/2018 – In 2018, Citizen Lab released an investigation into the global proliferation of Pegasus operators and infections, ultimately identifying 120 ISPs in 45 countries where they suspected Pegasus infections were located. Pegasus, a mobile phone spyware suite produced by the Israel-based NSO Group, is increasingly employed by governments as a means to covertly target civil society. 

Hide and Seek: Tracking NSO Group's Pegasus Spyware to Operations in 45 Countries