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 addition 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 committee 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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Transnational Repres5 sion Accountability and Prevention Act of 2019’’ or as the 

6 ‘‘TRAP Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress makes the following findings: 

3 (1) The International Criminal Police Organiza4 tion (INTERPOL) works to prevent and fight crime 

5 through enhanced cooperation and innovation on po6 lice and security matters, including counterter7 rorism, cybercrime, counternarcotics, and transna8 tional organized crime. 

9 (2) United States membership and participation 

10 in INTERPOL advances the national security and 

11 law enforcement interests of the United States re12 lated to combating terrorism, cybercrime, narcotics, 

13 and transnational organized crime. 

14 (3) Article 2 of INTERPOL’s Constitution 

15 states that the organization aims ‘‘[t]o ensure and 

16 promote the widest possible mutual assistance be17 tween all criminal police authorities . . . in the spir18 it of the ‘Universal Declaration of Human Rights’ ’’. 

19 (4) Article 3 of INTERPOL’s Constitution 

20 states that ‘‘[i]t is strictly forbidden for the Organi21 zation to undertake any intervention or activities of 

22 a political, military, religious or racial character’’. 

23 (5) Some INTERPOL member countries have 

24 used INTERPOL’s databases and processes, includ25 ing Notice and Diffusion mechanisms and the Stolen 

26 and Lost Travel Document Database, for activities 


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1 of a political or other unlawful character and in vio2 lation of international human rights standards, in3 cluding making requests to INTERPOL for inter4 ventions related to purported charges of ordinary 

5 law crimes that are fabricated for political or other 

6 unlawful motives. 

7 (6) According to the Justice Manual of the 

8 United States Department of Justice, ‘‘[i]n the 

9 United States, national law prohibits the arrest of 

10 the subject of a Red Notice issued by another 

11 INTERPOL member country, based upon the notice 

12 alone’’ and requires the existence of a valid extra13 dition treaty between the requesting country and the 

14 United States, a diplomatic request for provisional 

15 arrest of the subject individual, and an arrest war16 rant from the United States Attorney’s Office of the 

17 subject jurisdiction. 

18 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

19 It is the sense of Congress that the Russian Federa20 tion and other autocratic countries have abused 

21 INTERPOL’s databases and processes, including Notice 

22 and Diffusion mechanisms and the Stolen and Lost Travel 

23 Document Database, for political and other unlawful pur24 poses, such as intimidating, harassing, and persecuting 


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1 political opponents, journalists, members of civil society, 

2 and non-pliant members of the business community. 

3 SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

4 It is the policy of the United States: 

5 (1) To use the voice, vote, and influence of the 

6 United States within INTERPOL’s General Assem7 bly and Executive Committee to promote the fol8 lowing objectives aimed at improving the trans9 parency of INTERPOL and ensuring its operation 

10 consistent with its Constitution, particularly articles 

11 2 and 3, and Rules on the Processing of Data: 

12 (A) Enhance the screening process for No13 tices, Diffusions, and other INTERPOL com14 munications to ensure they comply with 

15 INTERPOL’s Constitution and Rules on the 

16 Processing of Data. 

17 (B) In cases in which INTERPOL has de18 termined that a member country issued a No19 tice, Diffusion, or other INTERPOL commu20 nication against an individual in violation of Ar21 ticles 2 or 3 of the INTERPOL Constitution, 

22 require such member country to seek the ap23 proval of the Commission for the Control of 

24 INTERPOL’s Files (CCF) prior to publishing 

25 any subsequent Notices, Diffusions, or other 


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1 INTERPOL communication against the same 

2 individual. 

3 (C) Impose penalties on countries for reg4 ular or egregious violations of INTERPOL’s 

5 Constitution or Rules on the Processing of 

6 Data, including the temporary suspension of 

7 member countries’ access to INTERPOL sys8 tems. 

9 (D) Fill vacant positions within 

10 INTERPOL’s structures, including the Presi11 dency, General Secretariat, and CCF, with can12 didates who have demonstrated experience re13 lating to and respect for the rule of law. 

14 (E) Oppose the appointment to senior posi15 tions within INTERPOL of candidates from 

16 member countries that commit regular viola17 tions of the rule of law or INTERPOL’s Con18 stitution or Rules on the Processing of Data, 

19 and disqualify any candidate from a member 

20 country that has had its access to INTERPOL 

21 systems temporarily suspended at any time in 

22 the prior five years. 

23 (F) Require INTERPOL in its annual re24 port to provide a detailed account of the folVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Sep 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4330.IH H4330

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1 lowing information, disaggregated by member 

2 country or entity: 

3 (i) The number of Notice requests, 

4 disaggregated by color, that it received. 

5 (ii) The number of Notice requests, 

6 disaggregated by color, that it rejected. 

7 (iii) The category of violation identi8 fied in each instance of a rejected Notice. 

9 (iv) The number of Diffusions that it 

10 cancelled without reference to decisions by 

11 the CCF. 

12 (v) The sources of all INTERPOL in13 come during the reporting period. 

14 (vi) Every instance in which 

15 INTERPOL suspends or withdraws the 

16 access rights or otherwise sanctions a 

17 member country and the reason for taking 

18 such measures. 

19 (G) Require the CCF in its annual report 

20 to provide a detailed account of the following 

21 information, disaggregated by country: 

22 (i) The number of admissible com23 plaints received by the CCF regarding 

24 issued Notices, Diffusions, and other 

25 INTERPOL communications. 


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1 (ii) The category of violation alleged 

2 in each such complaint. 

3 (iii) The outcome of the CCF’s adju4 dication of each complaint, specifying 

5 whether a violation was found and, if so, 

6 what specific category of violation was 

7 identified. 

8 (iv) The course of action taken by the 

9 CCF in response to its adjudication of 

10 each complaint, such as deleting or cor11 recting the subject INTERPOL file or 

12 files. 

13 (v) The number of preventive requests 

14 received by the CCF and the outcome of 

15 the CCF’s adjudication of each such re16 quest. 

17 (2) To direct relevant U.S. departments and 

18 agencies to take appropriate action in response to 

19 credible information of likely attempts by member 

20 countries to abuse INTERPOL communications for 

21 politically motivated or other unlawful purposes, in22 cluding by— 

23 (A) using bilateral and multilateral en24 gagements with INTERPOL member countries, 

25 as appropriate, to raise the United States seriVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Sep 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4330.IH H4330

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1 ous concerns about attempts to abuse 

2 INTERPOL systems in violation of Articles 2 

3 and 3 of INTERPOL’s Constitution; 

4 (B) lodging demarches, as appropriate, 

5 with the government of the violating member 

6 country for such abuses of INTERPOL com7 munications; 

8 (C) engaging with foreign immigration and 

9 security services, as appropriate, to alert such 

10 services to the abusive nature of INTERPOL 

11 communications against targeted individuals 

12 who may enter the jurisdiction of such a service 

13 during the course of international travel; 

14 (D) engaging with foreign immigration and 

15 security services, as appropriate, to secure the 

16 freedom of targeted individuals if such individ17 uals are detained on the basis of such an 

18 INTERPOL communication; and 

19 (E) engaging with foreign financial and 

20 treasury authorities, as appropriate, to ensure 

21 the freedom of targeted individuals to conduct 

22 lawful commerce within their jurisdiction. 

23 SEC. 5. REPORT ON THE ABUSE OF INTERPOL SYSTEMS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

25 date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, 


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1 in coordination with the Secretary of Homeland Secretary, 

2 the Secretary of State, and the heads of other relevant 

3 United States Government departments or agencies shall 

4 submit to the appropriate congressional committees a re5 port containing an assessment of how INTERPOL mem6 ber countries abuse INTERPOL Red Notices, Diffusions, 

7 and other INTERPOL communications for political mo8 tives and other unlawful purposes within the past three 

9 years. 

10 (b) ELEMENTS.—The report required under sub11 section (a) shall include the following elements: 

12 (1) A description of— 

13 (A) the most common tactics employed by 

14 member countries in conducting such abuse, in15 cluding the crimes most commonly alleged and 

16 the INTERPOL communications most com17 monly exploited; 

18 (B) how many INTERPOL communica19 tions are blocked by INTERPOL authorities 

20 because of suspected politically motivated 

21 abuse; and 

22 (C) which countries are responsible for the 

23 greatest volume and most frequent abuse of 

24 INTERPOL communications and whether 


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1 INTERPOL has imposed any penalty on these 

2 member countries for this abuse. 

3 (2) An assessment of the adequacy of 

4 INTERPOL mechanisms for challenging abusive re5 quests, including the Commission for the Control of 

6 INTERPOL’s Files (CCF), and any shortcoming 

7 the United States believes should be addressed. 

8 (3) A description of any incidents in which the 

9 Department of Justice assesses that United States 

10 courts and executive departments or agencies have 

11 relied on INTERPOL communications in contraven12 tion of existing law or policy to seek the detention 

13 of individuals or render judgments concerning their 

14 immigration status or requests for asylum, with15 holding of removal, or convention against torture 

16 claims and any measures the Department of Justice 

17 or other executive departments or agencies took in 

18 response to these incidents. 

19 (4) A description of how the United States 

20 monitors and responds to likely instances of abuse of 

21 INTERPOL communications by member countries 

22 that could affect the interests of the United States, 

23 including citizens and nationals of the United 

24 States, employees of the United States Government, 

25 aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence in 


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1 the United States, aliens who are lawfully present in 

2 the United States, or aliens with pending asylum, 

3 withholding of removal, or convention against tor4 ture claims, though they may be unlawfully present 

5 in the United States. 

6 (5) A description of what actions the United 

7 States takes in response to credible information it 

8 receives concerning likely abuse of INTERPOL com9 munications targeting employees of the United 

10 States Government for activities they undertook in 

11 an official capacity. 

12 (6) A description of United States advocacy for 

13 reform and good governance within INTERPOL. 

14 (7) A strategy for improving interagency coordi15 nation to identify and address instances of 

16 INTERPOL abuse that affect the interests of the 

17 United States, including international respect for 

18 human rights and fundamental freedoms, citizens 

19 and nationals of the United States, employees of the 

20 United States Government, aliens lawfully admitted 

21 for permanent residence in the United States, aliens 

22 who are lawfully present in the United States, or 

23 aliens with pending asylum, withholding of removal, 

24 or convention against torture claims, though they 

25 may be unlawfully present in the United States. 


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1 (8) An estimate of the costs involved in estab2 lishing such improvements. 

3 (c) FORM OF REPORT.—Each report required by sub4 section (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form and be 

5 published in the Federal Register, but may include a clas6 sified annex, as appropriate. 

7 (d) BRIEFING.—Not later than 180 days after the 

8 submission of the report in subsection (a), and every 180 

9 days after for two years, the Department of Justice, in 

10 coordination with the Department of Homeland Secretary, 

11 the Department of State, and the heads of other relevant 

12 United States Government departments and agencies shall 

13 brief the appropriate congressional committees on recent 

14 instances of INTERPOL abuse by member countries and 

15 United States efforts to identify and challenge such abuse, 

16 including efforts to promote reform and good governance 

17 within INTERPOL. 

18 SEC. 6. PROHIBITION ON DENIAL OF SERVICES. 

19 (a) ARRESTS.—No United States Government de20 partment or agency may arrest an individual who is the 

21 subject of an INTERPOL Red Notice or Diffusion issued 

22 by another INTERPOL member country, based solely 

23 upon the INTERPOL communication without— 


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1 (1) prior verification of the individual’s eligi2 bility for extradition under a valid bilateral extra3 dition treaty for the specified crime or crimes; 

4 (2) receipt of a diplomatic request for provi5 sional arrest from the requesting country; and 

6 (3) the issuance of an arrest warrant in compli7 ance with section 3184 of title 18, United States 

8 Code. 

9 (b) REMOVAL AND TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS.—No 

10 United States Government department or agency may 

11 make use of any INTERPOL Notice, Diffusion, or other 

12 INTERPOL communication, or the information contained 

13 therein, published on behalf of another INTERPOL mem14 ber country with which the United States Government is 

15 not a party to a valid bilateral extradition treaty as the 

16 sole basis to detain or otherwise deprive an individual of 

17 freedom, to remove an individual from the United States, 

18 or to deny a visa, asylum, citizenship, other immigration 

19 status, or participation in any trusted traveler program 

20 of the Transportation Security Administration, without 

21 first verifying through the NCB, in coordination with the 

22 Department of State and other relevant United States 

23 government departments or agencies, that the subject 

24 INTERPOL communication likely comports with articles 

25 2 and 3 of INTERPOL’s Constitution. 


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1 SEC. 7. ANNUAL COUNTRY REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS 

2 PRACTICES. 

3 The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 is amended— 

4 (1) in section 116 (22 U.S.C. 2151n), by add5 ing at the end the following new subsection: 

6 ‘‘(h) POLITICALLY MOTIVATED REPRISAL AGAINST

7 INDIVIDUALS OUTSIDE THE COUNTRY.—The report re8 quired by subsection (d) shall include examples from cred9 ible reporting of likely attempts by countries to misuse 

10 international law enforcement tools, such as INTERPOL 

11 communications, for politically motivated reprisal against 

12 specific individuals located in other countries’’; and 

13 (2) in section 502B (22 U.S.C. 2304)— 

14 (A) by redesignating the second subsection 

15 (i) (relating to child marriage status) as sub16 section (j); and 

17 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

18 subsection: 

19 ‘‘(k) POLITICALLY MOTIVATED REPRISAL AGAINST

20 INDIVIDUALS OUTSIDE THE COUNTRY.—The report re21 quired by subsection (b) shall include examples from cred22 ible reporting of likely attempts by countries to misuse 

23 international law enforcement tools, such as INTERPOL 

24 communications, for politically motivated reprisal against 

25 specific individuals located in other countries.’’. 


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1 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT4 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com5 mittees’’ means— 

6 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations, 

7 the Committee on Appropriations, and the 

8 Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate; and 

9 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 

10 Committee on Appropriations, and the Com11 mittee on the Judiciary of the House of Rep12 resentatives. 

13 (2) INTERPOL COMMUNICATIONS.—The term 

14 ‘‘INTERPOL communications’’ means any 

15 INTERPOL Notice or Diffusion or any entry into 

16 any INTERPOL database or other communications 

17 system maintained by INTERPOL. 

Æ 


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