Today, authoritarian leaders are no longer that worried about brazenly attacking dissidents found in other countries. But democracy suffers where such acts are committed. This article by Rebekah Robinson is published by Codastory. Here is an excerpt:

When it comes to intimidation and violence against their citizens, exile across national boundaries aren’t what they used to be. Authoritarian governments are not deterred in the same ways they once were. What was once a brazen act, like attacking a dissident living in a faraway country, has become commonplace. And the tools available to repressive governments have been transformed to include tactics like deportation, surveillance, abuse of multilateral institutions, detention, or digital harassment.

An umbrella term has emerged to describe how governments are locating their citizens across national borders: “transnational repression.” Examples include in the United States, as a federal indictment outlined, the government of Iran targeting Iranian-American journalist Masih Alinejad, coercing his relatives and using surveillance tactics to attempt to kidnap and transport her to a country that would cooperate with her rendition to Iran.

Earlier this year, a man charged with illegally working on behalf of the Chinese government spied and blackmailed targets, including U.S. citizens, to compel them to return to China. In another recent case, a U.S. citizen was arrested on charges of spying on Uyghur and Tibetan activists with the aim of silencing their criticism of the Chinese government. Transnational repression has been especially trained on Uyghurs and journalists.

Read the full article here.