Wicker-led bill protects INTERPOL from foreign abuses

U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) recently sponsored bipartisan legislation to counter efforts by foreign governments to pursue, harass, or otherwise persecute individuals for political and other unlawful motives overseas.

“Autocratic states like Russia and China for years have abused Red Notices from INTERPOL to punish their political enemies,” Sen. Wicker said. “The United States and other democracies should not have to remain complicit in this global assault on the rule of law.”

The Transnational Repression Accountability and Prevention (TRAP) Act of 2021, S. 1591, aims to counter the politically motivated abuse of the International Criminal Police Organization, known as INTERPOL, by authoritarian regimes.

“The TRAP Act would push for due process at INTERPOL and codify regulations that prevent American law enforcement from doing the dirty work of repressive autocrats,” said Sen. Wicker, who was joined in introducing the bill by seven original cosponsors, including U.S. Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC), Mike Rounds (R-SD), and Ben Cardin (D-MD).

The bill would establish United States priorities for responding to INTERPOL abuse and would promote reform within INTERPOL, improve the U.S. response to fraudulent use of INTERPOL mechanisms, and protect the U.S. justice system from INTERPOL abuse, according to a bill summary provided by Sen. Wicker’s staff.

Autocrats — principally Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, China, and Turkey — increasingly seek to silence opposition beyond their borders “and INTERPOL has become one of their primary tools to harass and silence independent voices,” Sen. Cardin said. 

“The United States must ensure that dissidents and whistleblowers seeking refuge in the U.S. are beyond the reach of the authoritarian regimes that seek to punish them, even within the United States,” he added. “The TRAP Act would be a major step forward in countering such authoritarian transnational repression.”

Sen. Wicker in September 2019 sponsored the original TRAP Act, S. 2483, which stalled in the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee.