TRAP Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2483 To counter efforts by foreign governments to pursue, harass, or otherwise persecute individuals for political and other unlawful motives overseas, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 17, 2019 Mr. WICKER (for himself, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Mr. GARDNER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To counter efforts by foreign governments to pursue, harass, or otherwise persecute individuals for political and other unlawful motives overseas, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Transnational Repres- 4 sion Accountability and Prevention Act of 2019’’ or the 5 ‘‘TRAP Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 7 Congress makes the following findings: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:41 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2483.IS S2483 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2483 IS (1) The International Criminal Police Organiza- 1 tion (INTERPOL) works to prevent and fight crime 2 through enhanced cooperation and innovation on po- 3 lice and security matters, including counterter- 4 rorism, cybercrime, counternarcotics, and transna- 5 tional organized crime. 6 (2) United States membership and participation 7 in INTERPOL advances the national security and 8 law enforcement interests of the United States re- 9 lated to combating terrorism, cybercrime, narcotics, 10 and transnational organized crime. 11 (3) Article 2 of INTERPOL’s Constitution 12 states that the organization aims ‘‘[t]o ensure and 13 promote the widest possible mutual assistance be- 14 tween all criminal police authorities . . . in the spir- 15 it of the ‘Universal Declaration of Human Rights’ ’’. 16 (4) Article 3 of INTERPOL’s Constitution 17 states that ‘‘[i]t is strictly forbidden for the Organi- 18 zation to undertake any intervention or activities of 19 a political, military, religious or racial character’’. 20 (5) Some INTERPOL member countries have 21 used INTERPOL’s databases and processes, includ- 22 ing Notice and Diffusion mechanisms and the Stolen 23 and Lost Travel Document Database, for activities 24 of a political or other unlawful character and in vio- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:41 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2483.IS S2483 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2483 IS lation of international human rights standards, in- 1 cluding making requests to INTERPOL for inter- 2 ventions related to purported charges of ordinary 3 law crimes that are fabricated for political or other 4 unlawful motives. 5 (6) According to the Justice Manual of the 6 United States Department of Justice, ‘‘[i]n the 7 United States, national law prohibits the arrest of 8 the subject of a Red Notice issued by another 9 INTERPOL member country, based upon the notice 10 alone’’ and requires the existence of a valid extra- 11 dition treaty between the requesting country and the 12 United States, a diplomatic request for provisional 13 arrest of the subject individual, and an arrest war- 14 rant from the United States Attorney’s Office of the 15 subject jurisdiction. 16 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 17 It is the sense of Congress that the Russian Federa- 18 tion and other autocratic countries have abused 19 INTERPOL’s databases and processes, including Notice 20 and Diffusion mechanisms and the Stolen and Lost Travel 21 Document Database, for political and other unlawful pur- 22 poses, such as intimidating, harassing, and persecuting 23 political opponents, journalists, members of civil society, 24 and non-pliant members of the business community. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:41 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2483.IS S2483 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2483 IS SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 1 It is the policy of the United States: 2 (1) To use the voice, vote, and influence of the 3 United States within INTERPOL’s General Assem- 4 bly and Executive Committee to promote the fol- 5 lowing objectives aimed at improving the trans- 6 parency of INTERPOL and ensuring its operation 7 consistent with its Constitution, particularly Articles 8 2 and 3, and Rules on the Processing of Data: 9 (A) Enhance the screening process for No- 10 tices, Diffusions, and other INTERPOL com- 11 munications to ensure they comply with 12 INTERPOL’s Constitution and Rules on the 13 Processing of Data. 14 (B) In cases in which INTERPOL has de- 15 termined that a member country issued a No- 16 tice, Diffusion, or other INTERPOL commu- 17 nication against an individual in violation of Ar- 18 ticles 2 or 3 of the INTERPOL Constitution, 19 require such member country to seek the ap- 20 proval of the Commission for the Control of 21 INTERPOL’s Files (CCF) prior to publishing 22 any subsequent Notices, Diffusions, or other 23 INTERPOL communication against the same 24 individual. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:41 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2483.IS S2483 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2483 IS (C) Impose penalties on countries for reg- 1 ular or egregious violations of INTERPOL’s 2 Constitution or Rules on the Processing of 3 Data, including the temporary suspension of 4 member countries’ access to INTERPOL sys- 5 tems. 6 (D) Fill vacant positions within 7 INTERPOL’s structures, including the Presi- 8 dency, General Secretariat, and CCF, with can- 9 didates who have demonstrated experience re- 10 lating to and respect for the rule of law. 11 (E) Oppose the appointment to senior posi- 12 tions within INTERPOL of candidates from 13 member countries that commit regular viola- 14 tions of the rule of law or INTERPOL’s Con- 15 stitution or Rules on the Processing of Data, 16 and disqualify any candidate from a member 17 country that has had its access to INTERPOL 18 systems temporarily suspended at any time in 19 the prior five years. 20 (F) Require INTERPOL in its annual re- 21 port to provide a detailed account of the fol- 22 lowing information, disaggregated by member 23 country or entity: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:41 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2483.IS S2483 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2483 IS (i) The number of Notice requests, 1 disaggregated by color, that it received. 2 (ii) The number of Notice requests, 3 disaggregated by color, that it rejected. 4 (iii) The category of violation identi- 5 fied in each instance of a rejected Notice. 6 (iv) The number of Diffusions that it 7 cancelled without reference to decisions by 8 the CCF. 9 (v) The sources of all INTERPOL in- 10 come during the reporting period. 11 (vi) Every instance in which 12 INTERPOL suspends or withdraws the 13 access rights or otherwise sanctions a 14 member country and the reason for taking 15 such measures. 16 (G) Require the CCF in its annual report 17 to provide a detailed account of the following 18 information, disaggregated by country: 19 (i) The number of admissible com- 20 plaints received by the CCF regarding 21 issued Notices, Diffusions, and other 22 INTERPOL communications. 23 (ii) The category of violation alleged 24 in each such complaint. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:41 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2483.IS S2483 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2483 IS (iii) The outcome of the CCF’s adju- 1 dication of each complaint, specifying 2 whether a violation was found and, if so, 3 what specific category of violation was 4 identified. 5 (iv) The course of action taken by the 6 CCF in response to its adjudication of 7 each complaint, such as deleting or cor- 8 recting the subject INTERPOL file or 9 files. 10 (v) The number of preventive requests 11 received by the CCF and the outcome of 12 the CCF’s adjudication of each such re- 13 quest. 14 (2) To direct relevant United States depart- 15 ments and agencies to take appropriate action in re- 16 sponse to credible information of likely attempts by 17 member countries to abuse INTERPOL communica- 18 tions for politically motivated or other unlawful pur- 19 poses, including by— 20 (A) using bilateral and multilateral en- 21 gagements with INTERPOL member countries, 22 as appropriate, to raise the United States seri- 23 ous concerns about attempts to abuse 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:41 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2483.IS S2483 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2483 IS INTERPOL systems in violation of Articles 2 1 and 3 of INTERPOL’s Constitution; 2 (B) lodging demarches, as appropriate, 3 with the government of the violating member 4 country for such abuses of INTERPOL com- 5 munications; 6 (C) engaging with foreign immigration and 7 security services, as appropriate, to alert such 8 services to the abusive nature of INTERPOL 9 communications against targeted individuals 10 who may enter the jurisdiction of such a service 11 during the course of international travel; 12 (D) engaging with foreign immigration and 13 security services, as appropriate, to secure the 14 freedom of targeted individuals if such individ- 15 uals are detained on the basis of such an 16 INTERPOL communication; and 17 (E) engaging with foreign financial and 18 treasury authorities, as appropriate, to ensure 19 the freedom of targeted individuals to conduct 20 lawful commerce within their jurisdiction. 21 SEC. 5. REPORT ON THE ABUSE OF INTERPOL SYSTEMS. 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 23 date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, 24 in coordination with the Secretary of Homeland Secretary, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:41 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2483.IS S2483 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 2483 IS the Secretary of State, and the heads of other relevant 1 United States Government departments or agencies shall 2 submit to the appropriate congressional committees a re- 3 port containing an assessment of how INTERPOL mem- 4 ber countries abuse INTERPOL Red Notices, Diffusions, 5 and other INTERPOL communications for political mo- 6 tives and other unlawful purposes within the past three 7 years. 8 (b) ELEMENTS.—The report required under sub- 9 section (a) shall include the following elements: 10 (1) A description of— 11 (A) the most common tactics employed by 12 member countries in conducting such abuse, in- 13 cluding the crimes most commonly alleged and 14 the INTERPOL communications most com- 15 monly exploited; 16 (B) how many INTERPOL communica- 17 tions are blocked by INTERPOL authorities 18 because of suspected politically motivated 19 abuse; and 20 (C) which countries are responsible for the 21 greatest volume and most frequent abuse of 22 INTERPOL communications and whether 23 INTERPOL has imposed any penalty on these 24 member countries for this abuse. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:41 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2483.IS S2483 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 2483 IS (2) An assessment of the adequacy of 1 INTERPOL mechanisms for challenging abusive re- 2 quests, including the Commission for the Control of 3 INTERPOL’s Files (CCF), and any shortcoming 4 the United States believes should be addressed. 5 (3) A description of any incidents in which the 6 Department of Justice assesses that United States 7 courts and executive departments or agencies have 8 relied on INTERPOL communications in contraven- 9 tion of existing law or policy to seek the detention 10 of individuals or render judgments concerning their 11 immigration status or requests for asylum, with- 12 holding of removal, or convention against torture 13 claims and any measures the Department of Justice 14 or other executive departments or agencies took in 15 response to these incidents. 16 (4) A description of how the United States 17 monitors and responds to likely instances of abuse of 18 INTERPOL communications by member countries 19 that could affect the interests of the United States, 20 including citizens and nationals of the United 21 States, employees of the United States Government, 22 aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence in 23 the United States, aliens who are lawfully present in 24 the United States, or aliens with pending asylum, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:41 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2483.IS S2483 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 2483 IS withholding of removal, or convention against tor- 1 ture claims, though they may be unlawfully present 2 in the United States. 3 (5) A description of what actions the United 4 States takes in response to credible information it 5 receives concerning likely abuse of INTERPOL com- 6 munications targeting employees of the United 7 States Government for activities they undertook in 8 an official capacity. 9 (6) A description of United States advocacy for 10 reform and good governance within INTERPOL. 11 (7) A strategy for improving interagency coordi- 12 nation to identify and address instances of 13 INTERPOL abuse that affect the interests of the 14 United States, including international respect for 15 human rights and fundamental freedoms, citizens 16 and nationals of the United States, employees of the 17 United States Government, aliens lawfully admitted 18 for permanent residence in the United States, aliens 19 who are lawfully present in the United States, or 20 aliens with pending asylum, withholding of removal, 21 or convention against torture claims, though they 22 may be unlawfully present in the United States. 23 (8) An estimate of the costs involved in estab- 24 lishing such improvements. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:41 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2483.IS S2483 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 2483 IS (c) FORM OF REPORT.—Each report required by sub- 1 section (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form and be 2 published in the Federal Register, but may include a clas- 3 sified annex, as appropriate. 4 (d) BRIEFING.—Not later than 180 days after the 5 submission of the report in subsection (a), and every 180 6 days after for two years, the Department of Justice, in 7 coordination with the Department of Homeland Secretary, 8 the Department of State, and the heads of other relevant 9 United States Government departments and agencies shall 10 brief the appropriate congressional committees on recent 11 instances of INTERPOL abuse by member countries and 12 United States efforts t [Text truncated for display. 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