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. 

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 the 

6 ‘‘TRAP Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) The International Criminal Police Organiza2 tion (INTERPOL) works to prevent and fight crime 

3 through enhanced cooperation and innovation on po4 lice and security matters, including counterter5 rorism, cybercrime, counternarcotics, and transna6 tional organized crime. 

7 (2) United States membership and participation 

8 in INTERPOL advances the national security and 

9 law enforcement interests of the United States re10 lated to combating terrorism, cybercrime, narcotics, 

11 and transnational organized crime. 

12 (3) Article 2 of INTERPOL’s Constitution 

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

14 promote the widest possible mutual assistance be15 tween all criminal police authorities . . . in the spir16 it of the ‘Universal Declaration of Human Rights’ ’’. 

17 (4) Article 3 of INTERPOL’s Constitution 

18 states that ‘‘[i]t is strictly forbidden for the Organi19 zation to undertake any intervention or activities of 

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

21 (5) Some INTERPOL member countries have 

22 used INTERPOL’s databases and processes, includ23 ing Notice and Diffusion mechanisms and the Stolen 

24 and Lost Travel Document Database, for activities 

25 of a political or other unlawful character and in vioVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:41 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2483.IS S2483

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1 lation of international human rights standards, in2 cluding making requests to INTERPOL for inter3 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 extra12 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 war15 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 Federa19 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 pur23 poses, such as intimidating, harassing, and persecuting 

24 political opponents, journalists, members of civil society, 

25 and non-pliant members of the business community. 


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1 SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

2 It is the policy of the United States: 

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

4 United States within INTERPOL’s General Assem5 bly and Executive Committee to promote the fol6 lowing objectives aimed at improving the trans7 parency of INTERPOL and ensuring its operation 

8 consistent with its Constitution, particularly Articles 

9 2 and 3, and Rules on the Processing of Data: 

10 (A) Enhance the screening process for No11 tices, Diffusions, and other INTERPOL com12 munications to ensure they comply with 

13 INTERPOL’s Constitution and Rules on the 

14 Processing of Data. 

15 (B) In cases in which INTERPOL has de16 termined that a member country issued a No17 tice, Diffusion, or other INTERPOL commu18 nication against an individual in violation of Ar19 ticles 2 or 3 of the INTERPOL Constitution, 

20 require such member country to seek the ap21 proval of the Commission for the Control of 

22 INTERPOL’s Files (CCF) prior to publishing 

23 any subsequent Notices, Diffusions, or other 

24 INTERPOL communication against the same 

25 individual. 


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1 (C) Impose penalties on countries for reg2 ular or egregious violations of INTERPOL’s 

3 Constitution or Rules on the Processing of 

4 Data, including the temporary suspension of 

5 member countries’ access to INTERPOL sys6 tems. 

7 (D) Fill vacant positions within 

8 INTERPOL’s structures, including the Presi9 dency, General Secretariat, and CCF, with can10 didates who have demonstrated experience re11 lating to and respect for the rule of law. 

12 (E) Oppose the appointment to senior posi13 tions within INTERPOL of candidates from 

14 member countries that commit regular viola15 tions of the rule of law or INTERPOL’s Con16 stitution or Rules on the Processing of Data, 

17 and disqualify any candidate from a member 

18 country that has had its access to INTERPOL 

19 systems temporarily suspended at any time in 

20 the prior five years. 

21 (F) Require INTERPOL in its annual re22 port to provide a detailed account of the fol23 lowing information, disaggregated by member 

24 country or entity: 


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1 (i) The number of Notice requests, 

2 disaggregated by color, that it received. 

3 (ii) The number of Notice requests, 

4 disaggregated by color, that it rejected. 

5 (iii) The category of violation identi6 fied in each instance of a rejected Notice. 

7 (iv) The number of Diffusions that it 

8 cancelled without reference to decisions by 

9 the CCF. 

10 (v) The sources of all INTERPOL in11 come during the reporting period. 

12 (vi) Every instance in which 

13 INTERPOL suspends or withdraws the 

14 access rights or otherwise sanctions a 

15 member country and the reason for taking 

16 such measures. 

17 (G) Require the CCF in its annual report 

18 to provide a detailed account of the following 

19 information, disaggregated by country: 

20 (i) The number of admissible com21 plaints received by the CCF regarding 

22 issued Notices, Diffusions, and other 

23 INTERPOL communications. 

24 (ii) The category of violation alleged 

25 in each such complaint. 


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1 (iii) The outcome of the CCF’s adju2 dication of each complaint, specifying 

3 whether a violation was found and, if so, 

4 what specific category of violation was 

5 identified. 

6 (iv) The course of action taken by the 

7 CCF in response to its adjudication of 

8 each complaint, such as deleting or cor9 recting the subject INTERPOL file or 

10 files. 

11 (v) The number of preventive requests 

12 received by the CCF and the outcome of 

13 the CCF’s adjudication of each such re14 quest. 

15 (2) To direct relevant United States depart16 ments and agencies to take appropriate action in re17 sponse to credible information of likely attempts by 

18 member countries to abuse INTERPOL communica19 tions for politically motivated or other unlawful pur20 poses, including by— 

21 (A) using bilateral and multilateral en22 gagements with INTERPOL member countries, 

23 as appropriate, to raise the United States seri24 ous concerns about attempts to abuse 


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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 com6 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 individ16 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 in coordination with the Secretary of Homeland Secretary, 


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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 re4 port containing an assessment of how INTERPOL mem5 ber countries abuse INTERPOL Red Notices, Diffusions, 

6 and other INTERPOL communications for political mo7 tives and other unlawful purposes within the past three 

8 years. 

9 (b) ELEMENTS.—The report required under sub10 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, in14 cluding the crimes most commonly alleged and 

15 the INTERPOL communications most com16 monly exploited; 

17 (B) how many INTERPOL communica18 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 INTERPOL has imposed any penalty on these 

25 member countries for this abuse. 


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1 (2) An assessment of the adequacy of 

2 INTERPOL mechanisms for challenging abusive re3 quests, including the Commission for the Control of 

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

5 the United States believes should be addressed. 

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

7 Department of Justice assesses that United States 

8 courts and executive departments or agencies have 

9 relied on INTERPOL communications in contraven10 tion of existing law or policy to seek the detention 

11 of individuals or render judgments concerning their 

12 immigration status or requests for asylum, with13 holding of removal, or convention against torture 

14 claims and any measures the Department of Justice 

15 or other executive departments or agencies took in 

16 response to these incidents. 

17 (4) A description of how the United States 

18 monitors and responds to likely instances of abuse of 

19 INTERPOL communications by member countries 

20 that could affect the interests of the United States, 

21 including citizens and nationals of the United 

22 States, employees of the United States Government, 

23 aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence in 

24 the United States, aliens who are lawfully present in 

25 the United States, or aliens with pending asylum, 


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1 withholding of removal, or convention against tor2 ture claims, though they may be unlawfully present 

3 in the United States. 

4 (5) A description of what actions the United 

5 States takes in response to credible information it 

6 receives concerning likely abuse of INTERPOL com7 munications targeting employees of the United 

8 States Government for activities they undertook in 

9 an official capacity. 

10 (6) A description of United States advocacy for 

11 reform and good governance within INTERPOL. 

12 (7) A strategy for improving interagency coordi13 nation to identify and address instances of 

14 INTERPOL abuse that affect the interests of the 

15 United States, including international respect for 

16 human rights and fundamental freedoms, citizens 

17 and nationals of the United States, employees of the 

18 United States Government, aliens lawfully admitted 

19 for permanent residence in the United States, aliens 

20 who are lawfully present in the United States, or 

21 aliens with pending asylum, withholding of removal, 

22 or convention against torture claims, though they 

23 may be unlawfully present in the United States. 

24 (8) An estimate of the costs involved in estab25 lishing such improvements. 


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1 (c) FORM OF REPORT.—Each report required by sub2 section (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form and be 

3 published in the Federal Register, but may include a clas4 sified annex, as appropriate. 

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

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

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

8 coordination with the Department of Homeland Secretary, 

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

10 United States Government departments and agencies shall 

11 brief the appropriate congressional committees on recent 

12 instances of INTERPOL abuse by member countries and 

13 United States efforts to identify and challenge such abuse, 

14 including efforts to promote reform and good governance 

15 within INTERPOL. 

16 SEC. 6. PROHIBITION ON DENIAL OF SERVICES. 

17 (a) ARRESTS.—No United States Government de18 partment or agency may arrest an individual who is the 

19 subject of an INTERPOL Red Notice or Diffusion issued 

20 by another INTERPOL member country, based solely 

21 upon the INTERPOL communication without— 

22 (1) prior verification of the individual’s eligi23 bility for extradition under a valid bilateral extra24 dition treaty for the specified crime or crimes; 


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1 (2) receipt of a diplomatic request for provi2 sional arrest from the requesting country; and 

3 (3) the issuance of an arrest warrant in compli4 ance with section 3184 of title 18, United States 

5 Code. 

6 (b) REMOVAL AND TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS.—No 

7 United States Government department or agency may 

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

9 INTERPOL communication, or the information contained 

10 therein, published on behalf of another INTERPOL mem11 ber country with which the United States Government is 

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

13 sole basis to detain or otherwise deprive an individual of 

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

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

16 status, or participation in any trusted traveler program 

17 of the Transportation Security Administration, without 

18 first verifying through the NCB, in coordination with the 

19 Department of State and other relevant United States 

20 government departments or agencies, that the subject 

21 INTERPOL communication likely comports with Articles 

22 2 and 3 of INTERPOL’s Constitution. 

23 SEC. 7. ANNUAL COUNTRY REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS 

24 PRACTICES. 

25 The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 is amended— 


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1 (1) in section 116 (22 U.S.C. 2151n), by add2 ing at the end the following new subsection: 

3 ‘‘(h) POLITICALLY MOTIVATED REPRISAL AGAINST

4 INDIVIDUALS OUTSIDE THE COUNTRY.—The report re5 quired by subsection (d) shall include examples from cred6 ible reporting of likely attempts by countries to misuse 

7 international law enforcement tools, such as INTERPOL 

8 communications, for politically motivated reprisal against 

9 specific individuals located in other countries.’’; and 

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

11 (A) by redesignating the second subsection 

12 (i) (relating to child marriage status) as sub13 section (j); and 

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

15 subsection: 

16 ‘‘(k) POLITICALLY MOTIVATED REPRISAL AGAINST

17 INDIVIDUALS OUTSIDE THE COUNTRY.—The report re18 quired by subsection (b) shall include examples from cred19 ible reporting of likely attempts by countries to misuse 

20 international law enforcement tools, such as INTERPOL 

21 communications, for politically motivated reprisal against 

22 specific individuals located in other countries.’’. 

23 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 

24 In this Act: 


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1 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT2 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com3 mittees’’ means— 

4 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations, 

5 the Committee on Appropriations, and the 

6 Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate; and 

7 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 

8 Committee on Appropriations, and the Com9 mittee on the Judiciary of the House of Rep10 resentatives. 

11 (2) INTERPOL COMMUNICATIONS.—The term 

12 ‘‘INTERPOL communications’’ means any 

13 INTERPOL notice or diffusion or any entry into 

14 any INTERPOL database or other communications 

15 system maintained by INTERPOL. 

Æ 


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