Human Rights Watch Documents Global Threat of Transnational Repression by Governments
Human Rights Watch has extensively documented how governments are increasingly reaching beyond their borders to silence, intimidate, and punish critics abroad, a phenomenon known as transnational repression (TNR). This global threat targets human rights defenders, journalists, civil society activists, and others perceived as threats, often including asylum seekers and recognized refugees. Methods of TNR vary but include surveillance, harassment, intimidation, arbitrary detention, physical attacks, and threats against family members. In 2024, Human Rights Watch published a report detailing over 75 such cases across four regions over the past 15 years, perpetrated by more than two dozen governments. Examples include the killing of a Rwandan refugee in Uganda, the extradition of a Cambodian refugee who was subsequently detained, and the abduction of a Belarusian activist from a commercial airline flight.
