Global Voices of Freedom Act of 2023

Subjects: International Affairs


<html><body><pre>[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 962 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

&lt;DOC&gt;






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 962

 To protect individuals who face reprisals for defending human rights 
and democracy by enhancing the capacity of the United States Government 
            to prevent, mitigate, and respond in such cases.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 23, 2023

Mr. Menendez (for himself, Mr. Cardin, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Coons, and Mr. 
    Murphy) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
             referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To protect individuals who face reprisals for defending human rights 
and democracy by enhancing the capacity of the United States Government 
            to prevent, mitigate, and respond in such cases.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Global Voices of Freedom Act of 
2023''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Seventy-five years ago, the United Nations General 
        Assembly, with leadership from the United States, adopted the 
        Universal Declaration of Human Rights, done at Paris December 
        10, 1948 (referred to in this section as the ``Declaration''), 
        and since the adoption of the Declaration, human rights 
        defenders have mobilized communities around the vision of a 
        world ``free and equal in dignity and rights'' described in the 
        Declaration.
            (2) Twenty-five years ago, the United Nations unanimously 
        adopted the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights 
        Defenders, which calls upon all States to respect the role of 
        individual citizens and civil society organizations in 
        defending human rights and democratic principles.
            (3) Human rights defenders advocate for human rights and 
        democratic principles, fight corruption, support good 
        governance, seek to end impunity, support victims of human 
        rights violations, and speak truth to power, creating 
        safeguards against autocratic regimes and backsliding 
        democracies.
            (4) Increasingly, human rights defenders around the world 
        face threats and violence in retaliation for exercising their 
        civil and political rights, and reprisals against such 
        defenders have grown in number, scale, and sophistication, with 
        online and digital threats evolving rapidly.
            (5) According to the United Nations High Commissioner for 
        Human Rights, every year hundreds of human rights defenders are 
        murdered and thousands more are subjected to torture, enforced 
        disappearance, sexual violence, hate crimes, unlawful or 
        arbitrary detention, judicial harassment, unlawful or arbitrary 
        digital surveillance, and forced exile.
            (6) Today, autocratic regimes are engaging in increasingly 
        brutal crackdowns on human rights defenders by co-opting states 
        or collaborating with transnational criminal organizations, 
        paramilitary groups, and other actors to silence critical 
        voices.
            (7) Such tactics are not limited to autocratic regimes and 
        are now used in every region of the world, accelerating a 
        global decline in respect for human rights and democratic 
        principles.
            (8) Few attacks against human rights defenders are 
        investigated or prosecuted, and rampant impunity has only 
        spurred further violence, creating a chilling effect on the 
        work of others seeking to promote human rights and democratic 
        principles.
            (9) Human rights defenders who speak up on behalf of 
        communities that have historically faced discrimination face 
        the highest levels of violence, such as those advocating for 
        Indigenous communities, environmental and climate change 
        justice, and respect for LGBTQ+, women's, and religious rights.
            (10) Attacks on human rights defenders are not limited to 
        individuals residing in-country, and many foreign governments 
        engage in transnational repression, reaching across borders to 
        target human rights defenders outside of their country of 
        origin.
            (11) Although the United States has long played a critical 
        role in supporting human rights defenders, the United States 
        must increase support at United States embassies, consulates, 
        and foreign missions in order to meet the needs of the growing 
        number of human rights defenders at risk.
            (12) Diplomats of the United States often lack sufficient 
        training or guidance on how to best respond to reprisals 
        against human rights defenders, while human rights defenders 
        often lack clear guidance on how to safely contact United 
        States officials abroad and what support human rights defenders 
        can request when threatened, imprisoned, in exile, or in 
        hiding.
            (13) Given the dramatic increase in attacks on human rights 
        defenders globally, the current approach by the United States 
        Government to address such attacks is insufficient to 
        adequately respond to the threats human rights defenders face, 
        weakening the ability of the United States to advance human 
        rights and democratic principles at a time when 
        authoritarianism is on the rise.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act--
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee on 
        Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign 
        Affairs of the House of Representatives.
            (2) Human rights defender.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``human rights defender'' 
                means an individual, working alone or in a group, who 
                uses nonviolent means to promote or protect human 
                rights and fundamental freedoms, in a manner consistent 
                with the principles described in the United Nations 
                Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.
                    (B) Inclusions.--The term ``human rights defender'' 
                may include members of civil society organizations, 
                journalists, activists, lawyers, community leaders, 
                whistleblowers, and others.
            (3) Reprisal.--The term ``reprisal'' means an act or 
        omission that--
                    (A) violates, intends to violate, or encourages a 
                violation of the rights of a human rights defender; or
                    (B) otherwise prevents a human rights defender from 
                carrying out his or her work.
            (4) Strategy.--The term ``Strategy'' means the Global 
        Voices of Freedom Strategy submitted in accordance with section 
        5.
            (5) United nations declaration on human rights defenders.--
        The term ``United Nations Declaration on Human Rights 
        Defenders'' means the Declaration on the Right and 
        Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to 
        Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and 
        Fundamental Freedoms (United Nations General Assembly 
        Resolution 53/144 (1998)), adopted by the United Nations 
        General Assembly on December 9, 1998.

SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

    It shall be the policy of the United States--
            (1) to reaffirm the commitment of the United States to the 
        United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and to 
        human rights defenders, who, often at great risk to themselves, 
        work to protect and advance human rights and democratic 
        principles;
            (2) to integrate support for human rights defenders and 
        their protection from reprisals as part of bilateral and 
        multilateral diplomatic, economic, humanitarian, development, 
        law enforcement, security assistance, and anti-corruption 
        activities of the United States; and
            (3) to view support for human rights defenders and their 
        protection from reprisals as critical foreign policy interests 
        of the United States.

SEC. 5. DEVELOPMENT OF A GOVERNMENT-WIDE STRATEGY FOR HUMAN RIGHTS 
              DEFENDERS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the President, in consultation with the heads of 
relevant Federal agencies, shall develop and submit to the appropriate 
congressional committees a comprehensive interagency strategy to 
support and protect human rights defenders abroad to be known as the 
Global Voices of Freedom Strategy.
    (b) Elements of the Strategy.--The Strategy shall include detailed 
information on the following elements:
            (1) How the United States intends to implement the policy 
        objectives under section 4, including--
                    (A) specific and measurable goals;
                    (B) metrics to measure progress against such goals; 
                and
                    (C) a timeline for implementation.
            (2) An assessment of tools and resources available at 
        United States embassies and missions to support human rights 
        defenders, including--
                    (A) measures to monitor and respond to reprisals 
                against human rights defenders; and
                    (B) information on implementation of the training 
                required by subparagraph (E) of section 708(a)(1) of 
                the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 4028(a)(1)), 
                as added by section 8.
            (3) Bolstering the ability of United States embassies and 
        missions to prioritize the protection of human rights 
        defenders, including--
                    (A) ensuring the policy objectives under section 4 
                are addressed in each country-specific Integrated 
                Country Strategy of the Department of State;
                    (B) developing guidance for United States embassies 
                and missions on assessing when and how to respond to 
                reprisals against human rights defenders;
                    (C) identifying a designated point of contact at 
                each United States embassy or mission who--
                            (i) reports directly to the chief of 
                        mission; and
                            (ii) shall be responsible for--
                                    (I) conducting regular 
                                consultations with human rights 
                                defenders, including individuals based 
                                outside of major urban areas; and
                                    (II) tracking patterns of reprisals 
                                and managing responses to reprisals, 
                                including by assessing the impact of 
                                such responses;
                    (D) integrating consideration of reprisals against 
                human rights defenders into engagements by United 
                States embassies and missions with the private sector;
                    (E) providing a secure means, where feasible, by 
                which human rights defenders can contact each United 
                States embassy or mission, respectively publicized on 
                the website of each United States embassy or mission;
                    (F) including requests for additional resources to 
                engage with and support human rights defenders in 
                annual Mission Resource Requests; and
                    (G) acknowledging and rewarding efforts by United 
                States diplomatic personnel to protect human rights 
                defenders as part of annual performance reviews.
            (4) Seeking to reduce impunity for reprisals against human 
        rights defenders by strengthening accountability for 
        perpetrators, including--
                    (A) using diplomatic pressure to encourage foreign 
                governments to investigate and prosecute persons who 
                order, plan, and carry out reprisals;
                    (B) using diplomatic pressure to respond to 
                patterns of non-lethal reprisals that have an adverse 
                impact on civic space, including the criminalization of 
                nonviolent advocacy, smear campaigns, and illegal 
                surveillance; and
                    (C) increasing support for multilateral initiatives 
                that seek to curb the misuse of dual-use technologies 
                by foreign governments to monitor, harass, or threaten 
                human rights defenders and their families.
    (c) Implementation.--In implementing the Strategy, the President 
shall--
            (1) establish within the National Security Council an 
        interagency working group that shall be responsible for 
        coordinating implementation of the Strategy;
            (2) require each relevant Federal agency to provide a 
        specific implementation plan for the Strategy; and
            (3) consult with human rights defenders and civil society 
        organizations on the design and implementation of the Strategy.
    (d) Form and Availability.--
            (1) Form.--The Strategy shall be submitted in unclassified 
        form, but may include a classified annex, if necessary.
            (2) Briefing.--Not later than 30 days prior to publication 
        of the Strategy in accordance with paragraph (3), the Under 
        Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights 
        shall brief the appropriate congressional committees on the 
        Strategy.
            (3) Public availability.--The unclassified portion of the 
        Strategy shall be made available to the public, including 
        through publication in the Federal Register.

SEC. 6. PROTECTING HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS AT THE UNITED NATIONS AND 
              OTHER MULTILATERAL BODIES.

    The Secretary of State and the United States Permanent 
Representative to the United Nations shall use the voice, vote, and 
influence of the United States at the United Nations and other 
multilateral bodies--
            (1) to promote full participation and oppose efforts that 
        prevent the full participation of human rights defenders and 
        block the accreditation of bona fide human rights organizations 
        at the United Nations and other multilateral bodies;
            (2) to ensure that the United Nations bolsters the 
        protection and safe participation of human rights defenders who 
        are subject to transnational repression, state harassment, and 
        reprisals;
            (3) to increase monitoring and reporting to identify and 
        track reprisals against human rights defenders, including human 
        rights defenders who engage with the United Nations and other 
        multilateral bodies;
            (4) to urge member states to engage with the mandate for 
        the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights 
        defenders (referred to in this section as the ``Special 
        Rapporteur''), to cooperate with the Special Rapporteur, and to 
        take steps to implement the recommendations of the Special 
        Rapporteur; and
            (5) to support the use of targeted sanctions, censure of 
        member states, and all diplomatic tools available to hold 
        responsible persons that engage in reprisals against human 
        rights defenders.

SEC. 7. ANNUAL COUNTRY REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES.

    Section 116(f)(1) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 
2151n(f)(1)) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as subparagraph (E); 
        and
            (2) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the following:
            ``(C) A description of the treatment of human rights 
        defenders (as defined in section 3 of the Global Voices of 
        Freedom Act of 2023), in each foreign country including 
        patterns of reprisals (as defined in such section) against 
        human rights defenders residing in-country, including 
        information on the underlying types of activities targeted and 
        the types of tactics being used.
            ``(D) When feasible, details on the total number of 
        investigations opened into reprisals against human rights 
        defenders, including, for such reprisals, the number of 
        prosecutions, the details of the individuals sentenced, and the 
        percentage of individuals acquitted.''.

SEC. 8. TRAINING.

    Section 708(a)(1) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 
4028(a)(1)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting a semicolon; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
                    ``(E) for Foreign Service Officers and Presidential 
                appointees, including chiefs of mission, in missions 
                abroad who work on political, economic, public 
                diplomacy, security, or development issues, a dedicated 
                module of instruction on support for human rights 
                defenders; and''.

SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There is authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 for each of 
fiscal years 2024 through 2028 to carry out--
            (1) the Strategy and reporting requirements described in 
        sections 5 and 7; and
            (2) the training required by section 8.
                                 &lt;all&gt;
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