On 10 February 2023, The Rights Practice and the Transnational Law Institute (TLI) at King’s College London jointly hosted a workshop on transnational human rights violations. The workshop was held in response to increased concern at reports of transnational repression (TNR) by authoritarian states. We produced this important new report as a summary of the discussion and include policy responses.

Although China is a country of significant concern the workshop considered transnational repression originating from a range of authoritarian states. Similar patterns of TNR originate in different countries, particularly the tendency to threaten harm to relatives in the home country. The majority of victims were originally from the violating state and many were human rights activists. However, governments often claimed second and third generation members of the diaspora as ‘their own’ with many being trolled by nationalists in authoritarian states. Participants of the workshop recognised the difficulties of monitoring and verifying allegations of TNR, as well as reaching an agreement on the definition. 

Participants agreed that an effective response to transnational repression required an appropriate institutional framework for monitoring and responding to violations. There is also clear need for more research and gathering of evidence, and for a broader conversation within civil society.

Read the full report here: Transnational Human Rights Violations