Sec. 5. Global strategy for human rights defenders
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Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and once every 3 years thereafter, 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 Human Rights Defenders Strategy (referred to in this section as the Strategy ). The Strategy shall include detailed information on the following elements:
An assessment of tools and resources available at United States embassies and missions to support human rights defenders, including— measures to monitor and respond to reprisals against human rights defenders, including human rights defenders located outside of their country, and their immediate family members; and 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. Bolstering the ability of United States embassies and missions to prioritize the protection of human rights defenders, including— ensuring the policy objectives described in section 4 are addressed in each country-specific Integrated Country Strategy of the Department of State; developing guidance for United States embassies and missions on assessing when and how to prevent and respond to reprisals against human rights defenders, including in countries that host human rights defenders in exile; identifying a designated point of contact at each United States embassy or mission who— reports directly to the chief of mission; and shall be responsible for— conducting regular consultations with human rights defenders, including individuals based outside of major urban areas, individuals who are not members of registered civil society organizations, and individuals in exile, consistent with measures to ensure the protection of such individuals; tracking patterns of reprisals and managing responses to reprisals, including by assessing the impact of such responses; and immediately notifying the chief of mission, the head of the relevant regional bureau of the Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development, the Director of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, and the Assistant to the Administrator for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance in the event of any imminent threat to the life or grave threat to the personal safety of a human rights defender; publishing guidelines in local languages on the website of each United States embassy and mission on how to reach relevant embassy points of contact; integrating consideration of reprisals against human rights defenders into engagements by United States embassies and missions with the private sector, and foreign governments; including requests for any additional resources needed to engage with and support human rights defenders in annual Mission Resource Requests; acknowledging and rewarding efforts by United States diplomatic personnel, including Foreign Service officers from the United States Agency for International Development and the Department of State, to protect human rights defenders as part of annual performance reviews; strengthening the efforts of host countries to bolster human rights, protect human rights defenders, and prevent human rights abuses and violations; and identifying additional authorities or capabilities that need to be developed to address the growing threats facing human rights defenders. Seeking to reduce impunity for reprisals against human rights defenders by strengthening accountability for perpetrators, including— using diplomatic engagement to encourage foreign governments to investigate and prosecute persons who order, plan, and carry out reprisals; using diplomatic engagement 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 increasing support for multilateral initiatives that seek to curb the misuse of technologies by foreign governments to monitor, harass, or threaten human rights defenders and their families. How the United States intends to implement the policy objectives under section 4, including— specific and measurable goals; metrics to measure progress against such goals; and a timeline for implementation. In implementing the Strategy, the President shall— designate an employee of the National Security Council to be responsible for the coordination of the interagency process for implementing the Strategy; require each relevant Federal agency to provide a specific implementation plan for the Strategy; and regularly consult with relevant human rights defenders and civil society organizations both in the United States and abroad on the design and implementation of the Strategy. The Strategy shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex, if necessary. 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, in consultation with the Assistant to the Administrator for Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance, shall brief the appropriate congressional committees on the Strategy. The unclassified portion of the Strategy shall be made available to the public, including through publication in the Federal Register.
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Sec. 5
Global strategy for human rights defenders
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