TRAP Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4330 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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 Mr. HASTINGS (for himself, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. COHEN, Ms. MOORE, Mr. CURTIS, Mr. VEASEY, Mr. MALINOWSKI, and Mr. HUDSON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in ad- dition to the Committees on the Judiciary, and Homeland Security, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com- mittee concerned 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 as the 5 ‘‘TRAP Act of 2019’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Sep 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4330.IH H4330 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4330 IH SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 Congress makes the following findings: 2 (1) The International Criminal Police Organiza- 3 tion (INTERPOL) works to prevent and fight crime 4 through enhanced cooperation and innovation on po- 5 lice and security matters, including counterter- 6 rorism, cybercrime, counternarcotics, and transna- 7 tional organized crime. 8 (2) United States membership and participation 9 in INTERPOL advances the national security and 10 law enforcement interests of the United States re- 11 lated to combating terrorism, cybercrime, narcotics, 12 and transnational organized crime. 13 (3) Article 2 of INTERPOL’s Constitution 14 states that the organization aims ‘‘[t]o ensure and 15 promote the widest possible mutual assistance be- 16 tween all criminal police authorities . . . in the spir- 17 it of the ‘Universal Declaration of Human Rights’ ’’. 18 (4) Article 3 of INTERPOL’s Constitution 19 states that ‘‘[i]t is strictly forbidden for the Organi- 20 zation to undertake any intervention or activities of 21 a political, military, religious or racial character’’. 22 (5) Some INTERPOL member countries have 23 used INTERPOL’s databases and processes, includ- 24 ing Notice and Diffusion mechanisms and the Stolen 25 and Lost Travel Document Database, for activities 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Sep 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4330.IH H4330 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4330 IH of a political or other unlawful character and in vio- 1 lation of international human rights standards, in- 2 cluding making requests to INTERPOL for inter- 3 ventions related to purported charges of ordinary 4 law crimes that are fabricated for political or other 5 unlawful motives. 6 (6) According to the Justice Manual of the 7 United States Department of Justice, ‘‘[i]n the 8 United States, national law prohibits the arrest of 9 the subject of a Red Notice issued by another 10 INTERPOL member country, based upon the notice 11 alone’’ and requires the existence of a valid extra- 12 dition treaty between the requesting country and the 13 United States, a diplomatic request for provisional 14 arrest of the subject individual, and an arrest war- 15 rant from the United States Attorney’s Office of the 16 subject jurisdiction. 17 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 18 It is the sense of Congress that the Russian Federa- 19 tion and other autocratic countries have abused 20 INTERPOL’s databases and processes, including Notice 21 and Diffusion mechanisms and the Stolen and Lost Travel 22 Document Database, for political and other unlawful pur- 23 poses, such as intimidating, harassing, and persecuting 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Sep 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4330.IH H4330 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4330 IH political opponents, journalists, members of civil society, 1 and non-pliant members of the business community. 2 SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 3 It is the policy of the United States: 4 (1) To use the voice, vote, and influence of the 5 United States within INTERPOL’s General Assem- 6 bly and Executive Committee to promote the fol- 7 lowing objectives aimed at improving the trans- 8 parency of INTERPOL and ensuring its operation 9 consistent with its Constitution, particularly articles 10 2 and 3, and Rules on the Processing of Data: 11 (A) Enhance the screening process for No- 12 tices, Diffusions, and other INTERPOL com- 13 munications to ensure they comply with 14 INTERPOL’s Constitution and Rules on the 15 Processing of Data. 16 (B) In cases in which INTERPOL has de- 17 termined that a member country issued a No- 18 tice, Diffusion, or other INTERPOL commu- 19 nication against an individual in violation of Ar- 20 ticles 2 or 3 of the INTERPOL Constitution, 21 require such member country to seek the ap- 22 proval of the Commission for the Control of 23 INTERPOL’s Files (CCF) prior to publishing 24 any subsequent Notices, Diffusions, or other 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Sep 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4330.IH H4330 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4330 IH INTERPOL communication against the same 1 individual. 2 (C) Impose penalties on countries for reg- 3 ular or egregious violations of INTERPOL’s 4 Constitution or Rules on the Processing of 5 Data, including the temporary suspension of 6 member countries’ access to INTERPOL sys- 7 tems. 8 (D) Fill vacant positions within 9 INTERPOL’s structures, including the Presi- 10 dency, General Secretariat, and CCF, with can- 11 didates who have demonstrated experience re- 12 lating to and respect for the rule of law. 13 (E) Oppose the appointment to senior posi- 14 tions within INTERPOL of candidates from 15 member countries that commit regular viola- 16 tions of the rule of law or INTERPOL’s Con- 17 stitution or Rules on the Processing of Data, 18 and disqualify any candidate from a member 19 country that has had its access to INTERPOL 20 systems temporarily suspended at any time in 21 the prior five years. 22 (F) Require INTERPOL in its annual re- 23 port to provide a detailed account of the fol- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Sep 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4330.IH H4330 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4330 IH lowing information, disaggregated by member 1 country or entity: 2 (i) The number of Notice requests, 3 disaggregated by color, that it received. 4 (ii) The number of Notice requests, 5 disaggregated by color, that it rejected. 6 (iii) The category of violation identi- 7 fied in each instance of a rejected Notice. 8 (iv) The number of Diffusions that it 9 cancelled without reference to decisions by 10 the CCF. 11 (v) The sources of all INTERPOL in- 12 come during the reporting period. 13 (vi) Every instance in which 14 INTERPOL suspends or withdraws the 15 access rights or otherwise sanctions a 16 member country and the reason for taking 17 such measures. 18 (G) Require the CCF in its annual report 19 to provide a detailed account of the following 20 information, disaggregated by country: 21 (i) The number of admissible com- 22 plaints received by the CCF regarding 23 issued Notices, Diffusions, and other 24 INTERPOL communications. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Sep 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4330.IH H4330 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4330 IH (ii) The category of violation alleged 1 in each such complaint. 2 (iii) The outcome of the CCF’s adju- 3 dication of each complaint, specifying 4 whether a violation was found and, if so, 5 what specific category of violation was 6 identified. 7 (iv) The course of action taken by the 8 CCF in response to its adjudication of 9 each complaint, such as deleting or cor- 10 recting the subject INTERPOL file or 11 files. 12 (v) The number of preventive requests 13 received by the CCF and the outcome of 14 the CCF’s adjudication of each such re- 15 quest. 16 (2) To direct relevant U.S. departments and 17 agencies to take appropriate action in response to 18 credible information of likely attempts by member 19 countries to abuse INTERPOL communications for 20 politically motivated or other unlawful purposes, in- 21 cluding by— 22 (A) using bilateral and multilateral en- 23 gagements with INTERPOL member countries, 24 as appropriate, to raise the United States seri- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Sep 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4330.IH H4330 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 4330 IH ous concerns about attempts to abuse 1 INTERPOL systems in violation of Articles 2 2 and 3 of INTERPOL’s Constitution; 3 (B) lodging demarches, as appropriate, 4 with the government of the violating member 5 country for such abuses of INTERPOL com- 6 munications; 7 (C) engaging with foreign immigration and 8 security services, as appropriate, to alert such 9 services to the abusive nature of INTERPOL 10 communications against targeted individuals 11 who may enter the jurisdiction of such a service 12 during the course of international travel; 13 (D) engaging with foreign immigration and 14 security services, as appropriate, to secure the 15 freedom of targeted individuals if such individ- 16 uals are detained on the basis of such an 17 INTERPOL communication; and 18 (E) engaging with foreign financial and 19 treasury authorities, as appropriate, to ensure 20 the freedom of targeted individuals to conduct 21 lawful commerce within their jurisdiction. 22 SEC. 5. REPORT ON THE ABUSE OF INTERPOL SYSTEMS. 23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 24 date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Sep 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4330.IH H4330 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 4330 IH in coordination with the Secretary of Homeland Secretary, 1 the Secretary of State, and the heads of other relevant 2 United States Government departments or agencies shall 3 submit to the appropriate congressional committees a re- 4 port containing an assessment of how INTERPOL mem- 5 ber countries abuse INTERPOL Red Notices, Diffusions, 6 and other INTERPOL communications for political mo- 7 tives and other unlawful purposes within the past three 8 years. 9 (b) ELEMENTS.—The report required under sub- 10 section (a) shall include the following elements: 11 (1) A description of— 12 (A) the most common tactics employed by 13 member countries in conducting such abuse, in- 14 cluding the crimes most commonly alleged and 15 the INTERPOL communications most com- 16 monly exploited; 17 (B) how many INTERPOL communica- 18 tions are blocked by INTERPOL authorities 19 because of suspected politically motivated 20 abuse; and 21 (C) which countries are responsible for the 22 greatest volume and most frequent abuse of 23 INTERPOL communications and whether 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Sep 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4330.IH H4330 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 4330 IH INTERPOL has imposed any penalty on these 1 member countries for this abuse. 2 (2) An assessment of the adequacy of 3 INTERPOL mechanisms for challenging abusive re- 4 quests, including the Commission for the Control of 5 INTERPOL’s Files (CCF), and any shortcoming 6 the United States believes should be addressed. 7 (3) A description of any incidents in which the 8 Department of Justice assesses that United States 9 courts and executive departments or agencies have 10 relied on INTERPOL communications in contraven- 11 tion of existing law or policy to seek the detention 12 of individuals or render judgments concerning their 13 immigration status or requests for asylum, with- 14 holding of removal, or convention against torture 15 claims and any measures the Department of Justice 16 or other executive departments or agencies took in 17 response to these incidents. 18 (4) A description of how the United States 19 monitors and responds to likely instances of abuse of 20 INTERPOL communications by member countries 21 that could affect the interests of the United States, 22 including citizens and nationals of the United 23 States, employees of the United States Government, 24 aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Sep 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4330.IH H4330 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 4330 IH the United States, aliens who are lawfully present in 1 the United States, or aliens with pending asylum, 2 withholding of removal, or convention against tor- 3 ture claims, though they may be unlawfully present 4 in the United States. 5 (5) A description of what actions the United 6 States takes in response to credible information it 7 receives concerning likely abuse of INTERPOL com- 8 munications targeting employees of the United 9 States Government for activities they undertook in 10 an official capacity. 11 (6) A description of United States advocacy for 12 reform and good governance within INTERPOL. 13 (7) A strategy for improving interagency coordi- 14 nation to identify and address instances of 15 INTERPOL abuse that affect the interests of the 16 United States, including international respect for 17 human rights and fundamental freedoms, citizens 18 and nationals of the United States, employees of the 19 United States Government, aliens lawfully admitted 20 for permanent residence in the United States, aliens 21 who are lawfully present in the United States, or 22 aliens with pending asylum, withholding of removal, 23 or convention against torture claims, though they 24 may be unlawfully present in the United States. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Sep 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4330.IH H4330 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 4330 IH (8) An estimate of the costs involved in estab- 1 lishing such improvements. 2 (c) FORM OF REPORT.—Each report required by sub- 3 section (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form and be 4 published in the Federal Register, but may include a clas- 5 sified annex, as appropriate. 6 (d) BRIEFING.—Not later than 180 days after the 7 submission of the report in subsection (a), and every 180 8 days after for two years, [Text truncated for display. 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