    [House Hearing, 116 Congress]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                    THE DANGERS OF REPORTING ON HUMAN RIGHTS

    =======================================================================

                                    HEARING

                                   BEFORE THE

                     SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH,
                            GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS, AND
                          INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

                                     OF THE

                          COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
                            HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                         ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS

                                 FIRST SESSION

                                   __________

                                  MAY 16, 2019

                                   __________

                               Serial No. 116-39

                                   __________

            Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs

    [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    Available: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/, http://docs.house.gov,

                        or http://http://www.govinfo.gov

                                   __________

                        U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
    36-331PDF                  WASHINGTON : 2019

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                          COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS

                       ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York, Chairman

    BRAD SHERMAN, California             MICHAEL T. McCAUL, Texas, Ranking
    GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York               Member
    ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey		     CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey
    GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia         STEVE CHABOT, Ohio
    THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida	     JOE WILSON, South Carolina
    KAREN BASS, California		     SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania
    WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts	     TED S. YOHO, Florida
    DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island	     ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois
    AMI BERA, California		     LEE ZELDIN, New York
    JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas		     JIM SENSENBRENNER, Wisconsin
    DINA TITUS, Nevada		     ANN WAGNER, Missouri
    ADRIANO ESPAILLAT, New York          BRIAN MAST, Florida
    TED LIEU, California		     FRANCIS ROONEY, Florida
    SUSAN WILD, Pennsylvania	     BRIAN FITZPATRICK, Pennsylvania
    DEAN PHILLPS, Minnesota	             JOHN CURTIS, Utah
    ILHAN OMAR, Minnesota		     KEN BUCK, Colorado
    COLIN ALLRED, Texas		     RON WRIGHT, Texas
    ANDY LEVIN, Michigan		     GUY RESCHENTHALER, Pennsylvania
    ABIGAIL SPANBERGER, Virginia	     TIM BURCHETT, Tennessee
    CHRISSY HOULAHAN, Pennsylvania       GREG PENCE, Indiana
    TOM MALINOWSKI, New Jersey	     STEVE WATKINS, Kansas
    DAVID TRONE, Maryland		     MIKE GUEST, Mississippi
    JIM COSTA, California
    JUAN VARGAS, California
    VICENTE GONZALEZ, Texas

                        Jason Steinbaum, Staff Director
                   Brandon Shields, Republican Staff Director
                                     ------

        Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and
                          International Organizations

                         KAREN BASS, California, Chair

    SUSAN WILD, Pennsylvania             CHRISTOPHER SMITH, New Jersey,
    DEAN PHILLIPS, Minnesota                 Ranking Member
    ILHAN OMAR, Minnesota                JIM SENSENBRENNER, Wisconsin
    CHRISSY HOULAHAN, Pennsylvania       RON WRIGHT, Texas
                                         TIM BURCHETT, Tennessee

                        Janette Yarwood,  Staff Director

                                C O N T E N T S

                                  ----------
                                                                       Page

                STATEMENT FOR THE RECORD FROM COMMITTEE MEMBERS

    Prepared statement submitted for the record from Chair Bass......     3

                                   WITNESSES

    Simon, Joel, Executive Director, Committee to Protect Journalists    14
    Repucci, Sarah, Senior Director, Research and Analysis, Freedom
      House..........................................................    39
    Hoja, Gulchehra, Uyghur Service Broadcaster, Radio Free Asia.....    48
    Cengiz, Hatice, Fiance of Jamal Khashoggi........................    53

                      INFORMATION SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD

    Article: Mail & Guardian: Parents of slain journalist demand
      justice from South Sedan submitted from Representative Houlahan    66
    Article: Washington Post: CIA concludes Saudi crown prince
      ordered Jamal Khashoggi's assassination submitted for the
      record from Representative Smith...............................    75
    Article: Washington Post: Seizing journalists' records: An
      outrage that Obama 'normalized' for Trump submitted for the
      record from Representative Smith...............................    81
    Written submission for the record submitted from Representative
      McCaul.........................................................    88

                                    APPENDIX

    Hearing Notice...................................................    91
    Hearing Minutes..................................................    92
    Hearing Attendance...............................................    93

                  ADDITONAL MATERIALS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD

    Article: The Atlantic: What It's Like to Report on Rights Abuses
      Against Your Own Family submitted for the record from Chair
      Bass...........................................................    94

                    THE DANGERS OF REPORTING ON HUMAN RIGHTS

                             Thursday, May 16, 2019

                           House of Representatives,

                     Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health,

                     Global Human Rights, and International

                                 Organizations,

                         Committee on Foreign Affairs,

                                         Washington, DC

        The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:06 p.m., in
    room 2172 Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Karen Bass
    (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.
        Ms. Bass. Good afternoon, everyone. This hearing for the
    Subcommittee for Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights,
    and International Organizations will come to order. I note that
    a quorum is present.
        The subcommittee is meeting today to hear testimony on the
    dangers of reporting on human rights. Today, we are here to
    highlight the dangers, the atrocities against journalists,
    press freedom, and to consider the various ways the
    international community can work to protect journalists. The
    seriousness of the threat to press freedom and global freedom,
    writ large, requires the United States to expand its alliances
    with fellow democracies and deepen its own commitment to
    democratic shared values. The world's democratic nations must
    show a united front and defend democracy as an international
    right in order to decrease the current authoritarian and anti-
    liberal trends across many places in the world.
        So, without objection, all members may have 5 days to
    submit statements, questions, extraneous materials for the
    record, subject to the length limitation in the rules. I
    recognize myself for the purpose of making an opening
    statement.
        I would like to start out by thanking our distinguished
    witnesses who are here with us today. I would also like to
    especially thank Hatice Cengiz and Ms. Hoja who will be
    speaking about their personal experiences. It is becoming
    increasingly harder for journalists to do their jobs, educating
    the public about issues and events that affect citizens'
    everyday lives and enabling citizens to hold their governments
    accountable. The press is constantly threatened by
    authoritarian governments and their security forces, judges who
    enforce harsh punishment, violent extremist groups, media
    companies that want to control the narrative, and online trolls
    who make threats via the internet.
        The Committee to Protect Journalists notes that the number
    of journalists killed on the job as reprisal murders for their
    work nearly doubled in 2018 from just a year earlier. CPJ also
    noted that the jailing of journalists also hit a high. The
    World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders
    shows that the number of countries regarded as safe where
    journalists can work in complete security continues to decline.
    Amnesty International regularly highlights countries are
    specific journalists who are harassed, threatened, detained,
    held without charge, are given extreme sentences for reporting
    on human rights.
        Human Rights Watch has highlighted Uganda's attempts to gag
    the media, Tunisian bloggers held for criticizing officials,
    the many journalists in Myanmar who face charges, Burundi's
    crackdown on media freedom including suspending the Voice of
    America and BBC operating licenses, the Digital Security Act
    passed in Bangladesh that strikes a blow to freedom of speech
    in that country, and many other instances of the increasing
    global crackdown on journalists. The difficult situation in
    Hungary where the government now controls 90 percent of the
    media outlets in the country. According to the Committee to
    Protect Journalists, during the 10-year period between 1909 and
    1918, there were a total of 602 journalists killed because of
    retaliation, exposure to combat, exposure to other dangerous
    assignments. In general, nondemocratic governments are
    traditionally more likely to engage in censorship, legal
    restrictions, or other actions that restrict media freedom.
        But there has been a shift across the world. Challenges to
    journalism and press freedoms may be contributing to global
    stagnation or declines in democracy generally over the past
    decade. Whether it is an attack on the Capital Gazette newsroom
    in Annapolis, Maryland that killed five journalists, the rape
    and murder of Bulgarian journalist Victoria Marinova, or the
    human rights atrocity that happened to Mr. Khashoggi in Turkey,
    journalists are being violently attacked for doing their jobs.
        The rise of digital authoritarianism is another way for
    governments to control their citizens and use the term ``fake
    news'' to suppress those who oppose them, helping to discredit
    the internet and other media platforms. Right here in the U.S.,
    the leadership, the administration continues to mock the press,
    often rejecting the news media's role, calling it fake news
    hoping to discredit our own press. This is unacceptable of a
    leading global democracy and goes against the fundamental
    principles of press freedom and gives license to political
    leaders who silence the media as part of their larger
    authoritarian agenda.
        My colleagues and I here in Congress believe in a diverse
    media and protecting journalists' ability to do their jobs
    without the fear of physical violence or repression.
    Fortunately, for the United States, we have strong institutions
    including robust constitutional guarantees of freedom of the
    press and speech and healthy legislative and judicial systems
    that check executive power, or I should say try to check
    executive power, but we know that this is not the case around
    the world. The numerous attacks on journalists around the world
    are jarring and it is clear there is profound global crisis of
    press freedom.
        There also seems to be a lack of international leadership
    on journalists' rights and safety. I look forward to hearing
    what you all think we should do to combat the violence against
    journalists and ensuring the continued strength of our press
    freedoms. I now recognize the ranking member for the purpose of
    making an opening statement.
        [The prepared statement of Chair Bass follows:]
        [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Mr. Smith. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. It is a
    delight to welcome these unbelievably effective witnesses,
    those who have borne a terrible price for either in the case of
    one individual, Jamal Khashoggi, a terrible, terrible murder by
    the Saudi Arabians, and of course others from Radio Free Asia
    who is here to testify.
        I do want to thank you for this hearing. It is part of an
    ongoing effort that we are all making to say that a free,
    unfettered press is extraordinarily important. And
    unfortunately, the freedom of the media worldwide is under
    siege particularly at the totalitarian countries. Human rights
    reporters in particular are dealing with core civil and
    political rights, the right to a fair trial, the right to
    freely assemble or to practice religion, and the right to the
    most fundamental of all human rights, the right to life.
        Freedom of speech is doubly implicated when journalists are
    targeted by a repressive government. Not only are the voices of
    journalists silenced, but also the voices of the victims of
    civil rights abuses for whom journalists allowed to have their
    stories told, and their sources as well who are often tracked
    down and abused.
        Take the example of one of our witnesses, Gulchehra Hoja,
    from Radio Free Asia. I had the privilege of inviting her to
    testify at a hearing last year before the congressional-
    Executive Commission on China for her work on reporting on the
    repression of the Uyghurs by the Chinese Government in the
    Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. As a direct result of her
    brave reporting, more than two dozen of her relatives were
    placed in so-called ``reeducation camps,'' concentration camps.
    In other words, she both reports the news and becomes the news
    insofar, as her family has been victimized on account of her
    fulfilling her professional duties.
        When we put the face of a victim on an issue and we hear
    what they have endured or their families, it becomes
    personalized and it makes it even more compelling and more
    understandable to everyone, including Members of Congress. So
    thank you for sharing that story. I would point out that
    another person who worked for Radio Free Europe is Khadija, who
    I actually met with in Baku some years ago, got seven and a
    half years by the Government of Azerbaijan for reporting on the
    kleptocracy of the president of that country, Aliyev.
        And so I did convene a hearing. We heard from a number of
    important people in the journalist world including Radio Free
    Europe's leader, head director, and made an appeal to Aliyev to
    let her go. She reported on corruption. She had every right to
    do so, and yet she was serving a seven and a half year
    sentence, and she was working as a stringer for us, the U.S.
    Government. I introduced a bill, the Azerbaijan Democracy bill,
    an act, and really began saying Aliyev needs to release all of
    his political prisoners and that includes members of the press.
    He did release them. He released her.
        But again, the message had been sent and I think it still
    remains and has a chilling effect that lasts for a very, very
    long time that if you cross swords with a dictator, you will
    pay a very, very severe price. So self-censorship becomes a
    very real issue as well and I am sure our distinguished
    witnesses can speak to that.
        Hatice, thank you for the time that we spent together
    yesterday. Both my staff and I were greatly moved by your love
    for your fianced the lack of accountability on the
    part of those people who murdered him. It seems to me that
    coming now again in Washington should keep that the issue is
    not just alive in terms of the accountability, but there are
    people within the Saudi Arabian Government that need to be held
    to accountable. And I for one believe that Magnitsky sanctions
    need to be meted out against those individuals and I am sure we
    have very good actionable information on them for their role in
    this terrible atrocity.
        And then sometimes we go from the horrific murder or
    incarceration of journalists to things that are like
    ridiculous. For example, in China we know the children's
    character Winnie-the-Pooh is now subject to Chinese censorship
    because Winnie-the-Pooh--and members might have seen in the
    Guardian, Winnie-the-Pooh and a picture of Xi Jinping was run.
    And the Guardian newspaper starts off by saying, ``Who is
    afraid of Winnie-the-Pooh? The Chinese Government,
    apparently.'' It shows you how the skin-deep and how easily
    offended, and then of course there is retaliation against real
    people, not characters from the Disney folks, that occur. I
    mean, it is just the tip of the iceberg of just how extreme.
        I held hearings in this committee years ago when Google,
    Microsoft, Cisco, and Yahoo were enabling the dictatorship to
    censor just about everything on the internet, and still do,
    sadly. But then it was Google's complicity in that, that I and
    others found to be appalling.
        Yesterday, we heard from Hong Kong democracy activists at a
    hearing of the China Commission, and one of them pointed out
    because they talked about the chilling effect that the new
    extradition amendments might have and basically what the lack
    of press freedom in Hong Kong is having on journalists,
    particularly in the area of self-censorship, not only are
    people in mainland China, and as you pointed out, Mr. Simon,
    you know, after Turkey, China is second in terms of
    incarcerated journalists. And it is probably an under-count,
    because it is such a secret society, we do not know how many
    are being held fully, particularly bloggers.
        So you have a situation where the Apple Daily, which is one
    of the Chinese language newspapers, it is one of the biggest
    for years, has literally shrunk in size, because not only are
    they chilled from carrying certain articles, the Chinese
    Government goes to their advertisers because Hong Kong still
    has some freedoms, and tells them, ``You do not put your
    advertisements into that newspaper.'' So they go after them in
    every which way including economically.
        Elsewhere, Erdogan is waging a war on journalists, and
    again Joel Simon will talk about the fact that they are the
    single largest jailer of journalists in the world and that is
    appalling. It is not, I mean when you compare that in
    population to China, it is just, it is an outrage and hopefully
    you will speak further to that later on.
        Again, I want to thank you for your testimoneys in advance
    and thank you for bearing witness to a very ugly truth about
    the censorship, the incarceration, the intimidation of those
    men and women who are journalists who are trying to bring truth
    to light. Yield back.
        Ms. Bass. Thank you, Mr. Smith.
        I now want to introduce the panel. And before I do, let me
    say that I believe you all have written testimony that you have
    given and that we would ask that you summarize your testimony.
    I am going to hold everyone to the 5-minute rule. You will know
    though that there will be an opportunity to speak again. We
    will have another round. But I at least want to go through with
    everybody sticking to 5 minutes and I would apply that to
    witnesses as well as myself and my colleagues here on the dais.
        Our first witness, Joel Simon, has been Executive Director
    of the Committee to Protect Journalists since 2006. Simon has
    led the organization through a period of expansion, growing
    CPJ's network of global correspondence, creating a new North
    America program focused on press freedom in the United States,
    and helping to develop an emergency response team focused on
    safety and direct assistance to journalists in crisis around
    the world.
        Sarah Repucci is Freedom House's Senior Director of
    Research and Analysis. In this capacity she leads the team
    producing Freedom House's flagship research and analysis
    reports, including Freedom in the World, Freedom on the Net,
    and the latest project, Freedom in the Media. She has 20 years'
    experience in research in the area of democracy, human rights,
    and good governance.
        Hatice Cengiz is a PhD candidate living in Istanbul, Turkey
    and the fiance of Jamal Khashoggi. Since his disappearance and
    death last October, she has been a steadfast voice in the call
    for justice for Khashoggi. We thank you very much for your
    willingness to share your story.
        Gulchehra Hoja is a broadcaster with Radio Free Asia's
    Uyghur Service where she has worked since 2001. Prior to that
    Ms. Hoja was a successful TV personality and journalist in
    China's Uyghur Region with Chinese State media. But after
    hearing RFA's Uyghur Service news broadcast, she decided to
    leave China and join the U.S.'s effort to provide the Uyghur
    people with trustworthy, uncensored journalism. Again, thank
    you so much for your participation today.
        And you may begin, Mr. Simon.

       STATEMENT OF JOEL SIMON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, COMMITTEE TO
                          PROTECT JOURNALISTS

        Mr. Simon. Well, I thank you, Chair Bass. Thank you,
    Ranking Member Smith and other distinguished members of the
    subcommittee. Thank you for inviting the Committee to Protect
    Journalists to testify. As executive director for an
    organization that advocates globally for press freedom and as a
    former reporter in Mexico and Central America where I saw
    firsthand the violence encountered by local journalists who
    cover human rights, I commend you for holding this hearing.
        Press freedom is among the most fundamental of human
    rights. It is essential to democracy, accountability, and
    global security. The U.S. plays a vital role in ensuring that
    this right is protected. Governments around the world seek to
    censor human rights coverage by criminalizing journalism. This
    is how Myanmar retaliated against Reuters reporters Wa Lone and
    Kyaw Soe Oo, who were jailed for over 500 days after reporting
    on a massacre of the Rohingya Muslim minority in that country.
    Their pardon, though welcomed, does not undo the terrible
    injustice committed against them.
        At the close of 2018, CPJ recorded at least 250 journalists
    behind bars. Of these, 151 had reported on human rights issues.
    In 70 percent of all of these cases, the journalists were
    jailed on anti-State charges including accusations of
    terrorism. Turkey, Egypt, and China all had high numbers of
    journalists in prison for reporting on human rights. And I want
    to make one point about China, which is that half of all the
    journalists jailed in China according to CPJ data were Uyghur
    journalists which gives an indication of the extent of that
    crackdown.
        And what is also alarming is that the number held around
    the world on false news charges, that was 28 globally compared
    to 9 in 2016. It is disconcerting to see that governments, most
    recently Russia and Singapore, justify repression by claiming
    they are cracking down on fake news. Denouncing critical
    journalists as fake news can also spur online attacks and
    inflame public opinion, making it easier for repressive
    governments to justify legal action. Filipino journalist Maria
    Ressa of Rappler is facing a slew of legal cases over that
    publication's investigation into abuses by the government of
    Rodrigo Duterte.
        The ultimate form of censorship is of course murder. Of the
    54 journalists killed for their work in 2018, 13 reported on
    human rights and 8 of those were targeted for murder. Since
    1992, CPJ has documented at least 1,340 journalists killed in
    retaliation for their work; at least 285 of those covered human
    rights. This brutal method of silencing critics was seen last
    year with the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal
    Khashoggi. He was killed by Saudi officials dispatched from
    Riyadh for that purpose. I commend the committee for making
    Khashoggi's case a focus of today's hearing and I also urge
    that you consider the role played by technology.
        A digital rights group reported that Pegasus, an advanced
    cyber weapon sold by the Israeli spyware company NSO Group,
    likely allowed the Saudi Government to listen to calls between
    Khashoggi and a Saudi dissident. Khashoggi's killing was an
    abominable crime that has thus far gone unpunished. CPJ has
    found that in nine out of ten cases of murdered journalists,
    the killers are never brought to justice. This impunity sends
    an empowering message to those seeking to use violence to
    censor journalists.
        The U.S. record on press freedom is not perfect, but has
    long been a leader in ensuring robust protections both at home
    and abroad. Unfortunately, the current administration has not
    been a forceful advocate for press freedom. To the contrary,
    President Donald Trump has sought to delegitimize the work of
    news organizations, has failed to criticize repressive regimes,
    and has praised leaders who crush dissent. To counter this,
    Congress must step up its efforts. We applaud past action and
    call on Congress to ensure that the State Department applies
    pressure on foreign governments to release imprisoned
    journalists, ensure justice in murders, and reform laws or
    practices that infringe on press freedom. It is vital that
    Congress speak out when these rights are violated.
        Finally, as the author of a book on hostage policy, I have
    a special interest in the fate of American journalists taken
    hostage overseas. Congress should insist that the
    administration do all it can to ensure the safe recovery of
    Austin Tice who was detained in Syria in 2012. Congress should
    also insist that the two men detained in Syria who are
    suspected of murdering journalist James Foley and Steven
    Sotloff and the U.S. humanitarian worker Peter Kassig are
    brought to justice to stand trial in a U.S. civilian court.
    Thank you so much and I welcome your questions.
        [The prepared statement of Mr. Simon follows:]

        [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Ms. Bass. Ms. Repucci.

       STATEMENT OF SARAH REPUCCI, SENIOR DIRECTOR, RESEARCH AND
                        ANALYSIS, FREEDOM HOUSE

        Ms. Repucci. Chairman Bass, Ranking Member Smith, and
    members of the subcommittee, it is an honor to testify before
    you today. I ask that my full written statement be submitted
    for the record.
        Ms. Bass. Can you speak just a little louder?
        Ms. Repucci. Yes. The fundamental right to seek and
    disseminate information through an independent press is under
    threat. According to Freedom House's Freedom in the World data,
    freedom of the press has been deteriorating around the world
    over the past decade. The trend is linked to the global decline
    of democracy itself, which Freedom House has been tracking for
    the past 13 years.
        I have four main points today. These points will also be
    elaborated in our forthcoming new report, Freedom in the Media,
    which will be released the first week of June. First, media in
    the world's least free societies have faced an intensification
    of traditional challenges. Over the past 5 years, countries
    that were already designated as not free in Freedom in the
    World were also those most likely to suffer a decline in their
    press freedom scores. Their methods are more of what we have
    seen for years, draconian laws, media shutdowns, arrests, and
    violence. It is striking that these governments continue to
    feel threatened despite already having near total control over
    the political system and flow of information.
        Also, among the 209 countries and territories that we
    cover, we have identified the use of violence against
    journalists or media professionals in almost half of them over
    the past 5 years. Second, in some of the most influential
    democracies, large segments of the population are no longer
    receiving independent news and information. The decline in
    press freedom in democracies has risen in tandem with right-
    wing populism which has undermined basic freedoms, particularly
    in Hungary, Serbia, and India. It has become painfully apparent
    that a free press can never be taken for granted even when
    democratic rule has been in place for decades.
        Third, as democracies retreat from holding press freedom up
    as a gold standard, China is filling the gap with a new
    authoritarian information model. Chinese authorities influence
    news media content around the world through three primary
    strategies. First, the Communist Party narratives are embedded
    in foreign media by proxies and allied figures including
    diplomats and foreign media owners. Second, the CCP and its
    agents and proxies work to suppress critical coverage of China
    abroad through diplomatic pressure and co-opting media owners
    and advertisers. And, finally, through firms such as StarTimes
    and the WeChat platform, the Chinese Government has new avenues
    for influence abroad. These moves are escalations in the
    aggressiveness with which Chinese officials attempt to
    undermine the watchdog role played by independent media in
    democratic settings.
        And my final point is that the erosion of press freedom is
    both a symptom of and a contributor to the breakdown of other
    democratic institutions and principles. While the threats to
    global media freedom are real and concerning in their own
    right, their impact on the State of democracy is what makes
    them truly dangerous. Without a free and independent media
    sector, citizens cannot make informed decisions about how they
    are ruled and abuse of power cannot be exposed and corrected.
    If the United States imposes no consequences for restrictions
    on media, free press could be in danger of virtual extinction.
    With this in mind, we make the following recommendations:
        Please ensure that actions by U.S. officials do not excuse
    or inspire violations of press freedom. Take strong and
    immediate action against any violations of media freedom
    globally through press statements, phone calls, meetings,
    letters, and the imposition of targeted sanctions on
    perpetrators. Stand up publicly for the values of a free press
    and support civic education that will educate the next
    generation. Ensure U.S. foreign policy and assistance
    prioritizes support for democratic principles including media
    freedom. It is fundamental to national security and economic
    prosperity. Support social media as an alternative outlet for
    free expression in repressive environments. And pass
    legislation aimed at enhancing the publicly available
    information about Chinese media influence activities.
        While press freedom is under threat around the world,
    experience has shown that it can rebound from even lengthy
    stints of repression when given the opportunity. The basic
    desire for democratic liberties including access to honest and
    fact-based journalism can never be extinguished and it is never
    too late to renew the demand that these rights be granted in
    full. Thank you. I look forward to your questions.
        [The prepared statement of Ms. Repucci follows:]

        [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Ms. Bass. Ms. Cengiz? Yes?
        The Interpreter. I will be interpreting for Ms. Cengiz.
        Ms. Bass. Yes.
        The Interpreter. She was wondering if she could go over 5
    minutes or is she limited to 5 minutes for the----
        Ms. Bass. You know what, let me go to Ms. Hoja and come
    back, OK?

    STATEMENT OF GULCHEHRA HOJA, UYGHUR SERVICE BROADCASTER, RADIO
                               FREE ASIA

        Ms. Hoja. May I begin?
        Thank you for having me at this hearing. I am not going to
    read my full statement today, but I will provide a short
    summary. I am very proud to be here to represent Radio Free
    Asia which was created to provide local and other news to the
    people living in closed countries. Their access to reliable
    journalism is restricted and censored for millions of listeners
    in Asia.
        RFA often serves as a lifeline to the truth. As a
    broadcaster with RFA Uyghur Service, the only independent
    Uyghur language news service outside China, exposing the truth
    can come at severe cost. Not just for me and my colleagues, but
    especially for our families in China. Even our sources are not
    spared. Because of our work as journalists, China views RFA as
    a hostile foreign news network. This perhaps has never been
    truer than now when RFA has been at the forefront of covering
    unimaginable humanitarian crises in China Uyghur Region.
        The Chinese authorities have detained more than one million
    Uyghurs as well as other ethnic Muslims, putting them in
    prison-like facilities while implementing a vast high-tech
    surveillance state to monitor and intimidate the remaining
    population. Throughout this development, my colleagues and I at
    RFA Uyghur Service have worked tirelessly to report on events
    as they occur in our former homeland. This includes breaking
    the news of mass detention of Uyghurs at the very beginning of
    China notorious re-education camps in the spring of 2017, first
    interviewing the camp security guards and officials who
    describe the harsh treatment and the conditions.
        RFA first uncovered the construction crematoriums near the
    facilities and RFA first reported on the overflow of
    kindergartens and the orphanages of Uyghur children whose
    parents were detained. China attempt to suppress the stories
    start from the very beginning. We cannot ever visit our
    homeland again. China would never allow us to get journalism
    visas. Instead, we are forced to reach our sources using other
    means including phone calls, but even that is becoming very
    difficult because authorities monitor calls and they use AI
    technology and voice recognition software to cut us off from
    reaching sources. Even sources outside China face threats to
    their families and the loved ones still in the country. This
    makes it harder to get leads and to confirm developments.
        As is well known, Chinese authorities have even resorted to
    threatening my colleagues at Radio Free Asia, even though we
    are based in United States and most of us are U.S. citizens.
    They do this by targeting our China-based relatives. I am among
    six journalists with RFA's Uyghur Service whose family members
    have been jailed, detained, or disappeared because of our work.
    The sad thing is we cannot be sure about our families' well-
    being or their fate. Attempts at contacting them carries
    serious risks.
        I know and my colleagues know that our work is important.
    After we began reporting on this human rights crisis in the
    Uyghur homeland, journalists in Western media have investigated
    and confirmed many details that were first reported by RFA.
    Knowing that so many of our peers turn to RFA as trusted source
    is very encouraging, but the cruel irony does not escape my
    colleagues and me. Though we have journalistic understanding
    about so many events happening in the Uyghur Region, we are
    often the last to know if our mothers, our fathers, our
    brothers, our sisters, and our children are in prison or not,
    if they are sentencing or punishment, if they are need of
    health or medical care, if they are still alive. That is the
    fear we live with every day, every hour.
        But there is one greater fear that urges us on: that if
    stop doing our duty as journalists, if we were silent, the
    world would simply forget.
        [The prepared statement of Ms. Hoja follows:]

        [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Ms. Bass. Thank you. Thank you very much.
        Ms. Cengiz.
        [The following statement and answers were delivered through
    an interpreter.]

           STATEMENT OF HATICE CENGIZ, FIANCE JAMAL KHASHOGGI

        Ms. Cengiz. I want to thank you, first of all. Believe me,
    it is very hard for me to make this speech here. I am not sure
    how I will be able to voice the tragedy that I have been living
    through for the last 8 months in this short of a time, but I
    would like you to get the general idea if I can.
        When we were talking 7 months ago with Jamal what we would
    do in the United States after we got married, what travel plans
    we would make to be here, as the witness of a very important
    tragedy is actually a trauma for me. Jamal told me that
    Washington was a beautiful city and that we would have a
    beautiful life. And he would tell me about U.S. politics,
    details that I did not know and he wanted to push me on to be
    interested in the United States before I arrived.
        He told me that there were large gardens, museums, shopping
    opportunities. He told me that I would not be bored and that I
    would not be missing Turkey and that I would be very happy in
    the United States. When he came to Turkey for us to get
    married, we quickly got busy planning our marriage. We were
    buying furniture. As you know sometimes women have these, I was
    planning my dowry. I was very excited and I was happier to be
    alive than I had ever been in my life.
        As I was heading for such an exciting start, the fact that
    it got suddenly cut on October 2d, I still cannot make human
    sense of it. I still cannot understand. I still feel that I
    will wake up and it will get back to that. And I cannot
    understand that the world still has not done anything about
    this.
        I had time to walk the streets of Washington before I got
    here and if someone had told me 7 months ago that I would come
    here without Jamal but to ask for something about him, ask
    about justice for him, I would not have believed it.
        But now I find myself in front of people that I had seen on
    TV. This is amazing. I am asking for justice and I cannot find
    the words to express my feelings about this.
        There is much that I want to say, but I want to just focus
    on the things that are important. During the first days after
    the event, President Trump had invited me to the White House.
    But in those days, I told the U.S. values, the value system of
    the United States would help solve this and leaving aside the
    emotional side, I thought the politicians would be able to
    help, but then I did not come.
        In the early days, President Trump said that this would be
    solved. Ms. Pelosi talked about how unacceptable this was. But
    seven, 8 months later we see that nothing has been done and
    that is why I am here today. I just want to say that what is
    most important here is within that official mission of the
    embassy on October 2d, it was not just Jamal that was killed.
    It was also what we are talking about here, the values that the
    United States represents. Did they not get murdered as well?
        I think we choose between two things. We all have this on
    our minds that we can either go on acting as if nothing
    happened and we can walk out of here and act as if nothing
    happened, or we can act, we can leave aside all interests,
    international interests and politics, and focus on the values
    for a better life.
        And, finally, for the United States, the values of freedom
    of thought and human rights as the United States is the
    fortress for these values, I think it is more than what the
    Constitution has, but it has the right, it has the opportunity
    to show that this is--it has the chance to show those who are
    responsible for this act. I think it is a test for the United
    States and I believe it is a test that it is true that it can
    pass and that is why I am here today.
        Ms. Bass. Thank you very much.
        Ms. Cengiz. One last thing. I hope that the Congress can
    initiate an international investigation, it can lead an
    international investigation into this act. And I think that
    international interests should not supersede values and being
    allies can also mean that these things, these people, the
    people responsible for this murder can be brought to justice.
    And I believe that President Trump can initiate this as well.
        [The prepared statement of Ms. Cengiz follows:]

        [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Ms. Bass. Thank you. Thank you very much.
        I want to thank the witnesses. I appreciate you sticking to
    the time limit, but rest assured you will have additional
    opportunity to speak.
        I am going to defer my questions until the end so that I
    can give my colleagues an opportunity to ask their questions.
    We will stick to the 5-minute rule, and then after everybody is
    finished we will do another round where people can continue. So
    let me go to the ranking member, Mr. Smith.
        Mr. Smith. Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
        And, first of all, thank you, Hatice. That was very, very
    powerful. Your written testimony really is a love letter to
    your fiance and I want to thank you for that and for making
    that a part of the record as well. You know, there is a great
    deal of concern that nothing has been done in terms of
    prosecutions. We know that Prince Mohammad bin Salman, in
    November 2018 there was a Washington Post article that made
    very clear that the CIA had high confidence that he was at the
    core of this terrible, terrible murder.
        My hope, and I said it in my opening, would be that there
    would be, minimally, sanctions meted out against those who were
    part of this and we have very significant sanctions under the
    Magnitsky Act, the inability to do any business here in the
    United States pursuant to the clauses of that law as well as no
    visa. And I think there is a time now to draw a bright line in
    the sand and mete out that kind of punishment.
        In terms of prosecutions, obviously it would be much harder
    for the United States to initiate a prosecution when somebody
    is overseas, but you know, there is a concern that there will
    never be a prosecution, so I do think we need to do what we can
    do right now and to do it. The information seems pretty clear.
    Mr. Simon points out there needs to be a non-secret, not a top
    secret, something that could be disseminated widely from the
    government, from our intelligence services that would lay out
    the case to the greatest extent possible.
        I think it is--I mean obviously the Washington Post article
    is based on leaks, probably, or somebody talking, you know,
    without attribution. But high confidence is high confidence, so
    I think we need to pursue this more aggressively. So I thank
    you again for being here, for bringing this to light so
    eloquently and I do want to thank you for that.
        I would also, Ms. Hoja, thank you for speaking out on
    behalf of all of the journalists in China. And, frankly, we
    know of, as Mr. Simon said, so many of them are Muslim Uyghurs
    that had been incarcerated, but I am of the belief that there
    are many, many more who are incarcerated or otherwise harassed
    that we simply do not know about. And like I said before, the
    chilling effect this has on unfettered reporting is abominable.
    There is just no way that anything is happening inside of China
    that is being reported on and that includes on the internet.
        So I do thank you for that, for being here, for raising the
    issue again. I would point out that in the Reporters Without
    Borders data and you look at the countries that we are talking
    about, Vietnam is listed as 176 out of 180. Three times, three
    separate congresses, I have had the Vietnam Human Rights Act
    pass this House with a heavy emphasis on press censorship and
    what they are doing to bloggers, only to die in the Senate.
    John Kerry had holds on it in the Senate, and I think, you
    know, it was unfortunate. We are going to try to pass it again
    this year. Zoe Lofgren has joined me as the prime democratic
    co-sponsor.
        But things are going from bad to worse in Vietnam. I am not
    sure of anybody I have read--Mr. Simon, I did not see it in
    your testimony, but I am sure you are very concerned about it.
    Since 2011, more than
    2,000 journalists and bloggers have been detained. And there is
    now a new law, a new cybersecurity law in Vietnam where Google
    and Facebook are blocking posts by Vietnamese in the United
    States. So, I mean the reach, as we see with the Uyghurs, as we
    have seen with many dictatorial countries, they are able to
    block that kind of, you know, they set up a firewall. I would
    ask you to speak to that if you could.
        And we also know that a blogger, Truong Duy Nhat, who
    worked for Radio Free Asia, was abducted from Thailand by the
    Vietnamese agents and he is seeking asylum. So there is just,
    again if you could speak to that I would appreciate it. But I
    know I have asked a few questions and there is not much time,
    but perhaps you could respond.
        Ms. Bass. And you respond to that and then the time will be
    out, but we will come back to Mr. Smith in a bit.
        Mr. Smith. OK.
        Mr. Simon. Yes. Well, first of all, I want to agree with
    Congressman Smith. We really do not know how many journalists
    are in prison in China and we do not know how many Uyghur
    journalists are in prison. We do the best research we possibly
    can to come up with an accurate number, but we acknowledge that
    it is becoming more and more difficult to do routine reporting
    in China and it is almost impossible as we heard from Ms. Hoja
    to report in the Xinjiang region.
        International journalists as well are followed, harassed.
    What we know about what is happening, one of the gravest human
    rights situations confronting the world right now, is extremely
    limited. I also think that you raise some important points. You
    gave the example of Vietnam, but we really need to think about
    the internet as a shared global system. That is under threat.
    It is under threat by autocratic countries that are putting
    pressure on U.S. social media companies. It is under threat
    from a new framework through which we look at social media
    companies and the role that they play in this global
    information system. And Vietnam as you mentioned is a country
    of grave concern. You mentioned the RFA correspondent who was
    basically as best we can determine kidnapped from Thailand,
    taken to Vietnam where he remains in prison. And this is
    indicative of the broader, repressive environment that
    journalists in that country confront. Thank you.
        Ms. Bass. Thank you very much.
        We are joined by the chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee
    who would like to make a statement.
        Mr. Engel. Thank you, Chairwoman Bass, and I appreciate
    your indulgence. I have just a short statement to make. I am
    glad that this subcommittee is holding such an important
    hearing. And to our witnesses and members of the public and the
    press, thank you for being here today.
        I will start. I will be brief and start with two short
    words and that is ``fake news.'' We have all heard it and how
    does it make you feel? How are your lives and your safety
    protected when the President calls what you do phony and paints
    members of the press as a menace and brands you as enemies of
    the people? As chairman of this committee, I feel very strongly
    that politics should stop at the water's edge. We run this
    committee in a bipartisan, collegial manner, but I cannot sit
    here and discuss the dangers faced by journalists without
    mentioning what all of you have to put up with. The United
    States often sets the tone of the rest of the world and, plain
    and simple, when the President calls the press phony and tries
    to turn people against them, it is really just not helpful at
    all. I think it erodes American moral leadership on this
    critical issue attacking a founding principle of our great
    nation and we need to do better for ourselves and for the
    international community.
        America's role in the world cannot just be about advancing
    our strategic and material interests. It is essential that our
    values lie at the core of our foreign policy, that they
    underpin everything we do overseas, democracy, human rights,
    the rule of law, the things that make governments more
    transparent and responsive, that makes societies more inclusive
    and prosperous, that builds stronger friends and partners for
    our own country, and there is nothing that shines a light on
    corruption and impunity better than the free press. There is
    nothing that reveals the plight of oppressed and marginalized
    populations better than a free press.
        A free press has on its side the greatest tool to drive
    progress and change and help advance those values, and that
    tool is the truth. That is why journalism can be such dangerous
    work. When journalists seek and tell the truth, they become the
    targets of those who reject these values. That is true of Mr.
    Khashoggi. In far too many places around the world, journalists
    are harassed, detained, jailed, and killed for doing their
    jobs. Those of you here today know this all too well, so thank
    you to all our witnesses for the bravery you demonstrate every
    day and by coming to testify today.
        I also want to take a moment and convey my deepest
    sympathies to you, Ms. Cengiz. Thank you for your strength in
    coming to speak to us today. Your story must be heard and we
    will help you in making sure that it is heard. There needs to
    be accountability for your fiance Jamal Khashoggi's murder. His
    loved ones deserve justice and we lawmakers have an obligation
    to push for that justice. And, frankly, I am worried. I wish
    that the people responsible had learned more from the
    international outcry over his murder, but instead it does not
    seem like people have learned anything. Journalists and
    bloggers remain languishing in prison.
        In March, PBS reported that Saudi dissidents in the United
    States remain at risk. Just this week we have learned that the
    Norwegian security services have contacted a political asylee
    in Norway about a possible threat against him from Saudi
    Arabia. And, frankly, we are seeing efforts to restrict a free
    press all over the globe. It is happening in the Philippines,
    in Venezuela, in Hungary. President Trump just recently met
    with the Hungarian President Orban who is a very serious abuser
    of press freedoms. So what does that mean for us? It means that
    Congress is not finished. The longer we go without seeing real
    accountability and real change, the tougher the path forward
    will be.
        So let me make it clear right here and now. We will not
    rest until there is true accountability. Congress is not done
    on this issue and we will continue to fight to protect the free
    press. I thank you all for being here today. I thank Chairwoman
    Bass and the other members of the committee for their
    indulgence and I yield back.
        Ms. Wild [presiding]. The chair recognizes Mr. Wright.
        Mr. Wright. Thank you. Thank you for having this hearing
    and it is certainly important because once again it reminds us
    that so many of the freedoms that we enjoy here in the United
    States and protected by our First Amendment to the Constitution
    are not enjoyed universally.
        You know, I grew up, not that I am old, but I grew up with
    a black and white TV and Radio Free Europe. And my
    grandchildren, and the eldest will graduate from high school
    next year, they have never known a time when there was not an
    internet and cell phones. And their assumption until they are
    told differently, until they learn, is that the whole world is
    that way, and it is not.
        My question for Mr. Simon and Ms. Repucci has to do with
    China, and it is very aggressively pushing its 5G network and
    it is building broadband in developing countries. And knowing
    how repressive the Communist Chinese are in their own country,
    does that not send a chilling effect to not just journalists,
    but everybody that likes the free flow of information? When
    they are building broadband in these countries and will not--
    you know, I mean if you control the information you control the
    country.
        And so my question is, does that not bother you and what
    can the United States and its allies do to confront that
    threat?
        Ms. Repucci. Thank you very much for the question. It is
    very important. Yes, I mean as you know, the Belt and Road
    Initiative is reaching, it is a trillion-dollar project all
    over the world and China is using that to build infrastructure
    that can then be manipulated for surveillance both domestically
    and by China itself, so it is definitely a big concern. China
    is also bringing foreign government representatives to China to
    train them in information technology. And while we do not know
    exactly what happens at these trainings, the case of Vietnam is
    a good example. Very soon after Vietnamese Government
    representatives were in China for one of these trainings, they
    returned to Vietnam and passed a cybersecurity law that was
    eerily similar to the cybersecurity law in China.
        So it does appear that China is trying to--is
    systematically spreading its version of digital
    authoritarianism to other countries through infrastructure and
    through person-to-person contacts. Certainly, the United States
    needs to take action on this. I think maximizing transparency
    as much as possible, information flows on what China is doing,
    making people aware of what we know about the impacts of these
    infrastructure projects and these technology projects. I think
    also it is important to speak out and to support the countries
    that are the targets of this.
        In many ways, these countries are facing a choice between
    moving toward democracy or moving more toward China's model.
    And they need to know that if they want to move toward
    democracy, they have supporters in the United States who will
    back them up and continue to provide a model that they can
    follow.
        Mr. Wright. Thank you.
        Mr. Simon, do you have comment?
        Mr. Simon. Thank you and I will add just very briefly by
    talking about the impact that this smothering surveillance has
    on the ability of journalists in China to do their job. I
    mentioned the challenges that journalists face of reporting in
    Xinjiang, but this, you know, a surveillance State is being
    created throughout China and the technology is being developed
    and exported. So I think we are seeing a model in which
    technology is used to create a massive system of surveillance
    that undermines and threatens the most fundamental human
    communication and obviously would have a devastating impact on
    the ability of journalists to conduct the kinds of essential
    reporting that they need to do in order to inform people and
    inform the public.
        Mr. Wright. Thank you.
        Ms. Wild. Thank you. I now yield time to myself.
        Ms. Cengiz, I hope that what you hear today does not sound
    like empty words. I feel as though so many people have let you
    down and let Jamal down. And I want you to know that what we
    are saying today is spoken from a place deep within us and that
    we care deeply. Your fiance ofJamal dedicated himself to the
    fundamental tenets of a free press, the notion that the pursuit
    of truth is an obligation owed to the public. And I feel as
    though we have let you down, let Jamal down, and in so doing
    have let down people all over the world who seek to be free.
        I want to express what I believe our country has struggled
    to unequivocally express. My sincerest sympathies for your loss
    and my abiding commitment to speak the truth of the
    circumstances surrounding his death so that others will not
    suffer a similar fate. My mother was a journalist, although she
    was never put in harm's way as Jamal was, and I will commit in
    her honor and in your fiance's honor to never stop shedding
    light on this. It is important for us to discover the truth. It
    is our job to protect democracy here and to promote it abroad.
    An informed public and an accountable government are only
    possible with the help of a independent and free press.
        For that reason, I have introduced, here, a free press
    resolution, House Resolution 325, which currently has 52 co-
    sponsors, to hold this administration and all future
    administrations to live up to the principles set by our
    Founding Fathers who recognized that freedom of the press is
    one of the greatest bulwarks of liberty. When we do not protect
    our brave journalists, such as Mr. Khashoggi, we move closer to
    tyranny.
        I would like to also thank you, Ms. Hoja. I recently was
    visited in my district by a family who are Uyghur. And the
    wife's family members, multiple family members including her
    father and mother, are currently being held in, I guess they
    are called reeducation camps, what I think of as detention
    camps. And she and her family, her brothers, have not heard
    anything from her mother or father in more than 90 days. And
    she showed me pictures of them at their most healthy, enjoying
    their grandchildren, and then she showed me the last known
    photograph of her mother who was very thin and ill. So I
    commend you for the work that you are doing and the sacrifices
    that you are making and the risks that you are taking both for
    you and for your family.
        And so I just want to ask you this. Do you believe that the
    content that you produce reaches Chinese listeners at all, and
    do they experience risk just by virtue of listening or reading
    the materials you produce?
        Ms. Hoja. Of course, this part, the source and the
    listeners' safety is the most we extremely worry about. Because
    we can, knowing of our families' numbers, telephone number, the
    ID, their pictures, everything, but we do not know our
    listeners' information about even after listen to us what is
    going to be happening to them it is unknown. But we have been
    published several cases, their charge was seven to 10 years
    even because they find out they been listening to RFA.
        So it is a severe cost to even you download Western medias
    or you listen or even the pictures you can just end up in a
    concentration camp right now. So we have several cases have
    been published, but we believe the information itself even
    though Chinese Government using very harsh technology to black
    out, but still people using some kind of technology to listen
    to us, even as some people, travelers, to give them some
    information. Either aboard other Uyghurs bring those
    information we provide and they bring those information to
    them. That is why we constantly even today can get very, very
    valuable information from the Uyghur Region and the Uyghur
    listeners. That is why we continue working.
        Ms. Wild. Well, I am glad that you do and I am glad that
    there is still the will of people to know the truth even in the
    face of great adversity.
        With that I yield to Mr. Phillips.
        Mr. Phillips. And I thank you, Madam Chair, and thanks to
    each of you. The importance of the work that you do, the
    courage with which you do it is admirable, integral, and should
    be celebrated by this entire world. I am grateful to you all,
    particularly you, Ms. Cengiz. Your testimony has moved me, and
    may your beloved Jamal's memory be for a blessing and may one
    of those blessings be action on the part of this body to ensure
    that such tragedies never happen again.
        As I was preparing for this hearing, I was reminded of the
    words of our third President, Thomas Jefferson, who remarked in
    1787 that he would prefer to have a free press without
    government than a government without free press. Poignant words
    230-some years later. And I will add to that. If journalists
    are at risk, then democracy itself is in peril. And I believe
    this very hearing may be one of the most important ones that we
    have all year long.
        And my question to each of you is very simple one and that
    is, what action would you like to see this Congress take to
    take steps to protect journalists all around the world to
    ensure that democracy cannot just survive, but thrive?
        Mr. Simon.
        Mr. Simon. Let me mention one thing that is general and
    something else that is every specific. Generally, I think that
    the Congress needs to ensure that the State Department and the
    executive branch perform its essential role of upholding press
    freedom, ensuring that journalists who are unjustly imprisoned
    around the world governments that engage in that behavior face
    maximum pressure. Governments that fail to investigate the
    murder of journalists face pressure. Governments that impose
    censorship that restrict the work of the media face pressure.
    That is absolutely vital.
        It is also--we also need to recognize that authoritarian
    governments, authoritarian leaders around the world will use
    whatever pretext is provided to them to justify their
    repressive action. They are repressive because they believe
    that by controlling information, they can retain power.
    However, it is deeply unfortunate to see repressive governments
    around the world justifying their action by citing a need to
    curtail and suppress fake news, to adopt the rhetoric of the
    President of the United States to justify their action. That is
    deeply troubling and I think it is important that this body
    speak out about that.
        Last, I want to mention because we heard from Ms. Cengiz
    who spoke about her husband, her fiance, rather, in a very
    personal way, and I want to articulate what his murder means
    for the cause of press freedom. The way in which he was
    murdered, the brutality of the crime, the fact that it was
    exercised extraterritorially, the fact that it was planned and
    coordinated by a government, the fact that it was functionally
    a form of torture, the fact that the people who are alleged to
    have carried out this crime have not been held accountable, and
    the fact that the U.S. Government has been unable or unwilling
    to apply pressure to ensure justice sends a terrible message to
    tyrants and dictators and enemies of press freedom all around
    the world that they can engage in this behavior. That they can
    murder journalists. That they can censor the media and that
    they will not face consequences. That is a terrible message, a
    demoralizing message, a message which I believe cannot be
    allowed to stand. Thank you.
        Mr. Phillips. Thank you, sir.
        Ms. Repucci.
        Ms. Repucci. Thank you. I will just reiterate how important
    it is that the United States stand up for the values of free
    press here at home and that those values serve as a model
    around the world. We have a disproportionate influence in the
    world, people continue to look to us despite our faults and
    mistakes, and we need to uphold that model here. The rhetoric
    that might be aimed at a domestic audience has an
    international, have international reverberations.
        The rhetoric of fake news we have seen since President
    Trump first raised that term in 2016, we have seen more than 20
    countries either pass or propose laws that are on the surface
    fighting misinformation, but are actually using that as an
    excuse to crack down on critical voices at home. It is
    incredibly important that we uphold our own values here and we
    speak out when those values are violated in other countries.
    Thank you.
        Mr. Phillips. Thank you. I am out of time, but I want to
    express again my heartfelt gratitude to each of you. You have
    made an impact on me and I think this entire Congress, so thank
    you.
        Ms. Bass. Ms. Omar.
        Ms. Omar. Thank you, Chair Bass.
        Mr. Simon, you painted a bleak picture of the threats faced
    by journalists worldwide. We often think about governments that
    threaten journalists as military dictators. In places like
    Egypt, Turkey or Saudi Arabia, Honduras that is kind of
    expected. But I worry a lot about what is happening here and
    the kind of message that our President is sending when he calls
    the press the enemy of the people or calls any story that
    paints him in a bad light as fake news, what effects that must
    have.
        And I should say that we do not have to look too farther
    from our own country. We have seen bombs being sent to
    reporters in CNN in October. Last June, Gerald Fishman, Rob
    Hiaasen, John McNamara, Rebecca Smith, and Wendi Winters were
    murdered at the offices of Capital Gazette, and as members of
    the House of Representatives assaulted doing a campaign.
        But talking back to the question of threats against
    journalists worldwide, when President el-Sisi of Egypt was
    here, for example, I spoke at a briefing where I mentioned the
    19 journalists that have been arrested in Egypt under the
    charges of fake news; I will guess that the President Trump
    when he hosted him did not bring that up. Do you think other
    governments see the President's treatment as a green light in
    other countries?
        And then just a second question to that, we have also heard
    reports of the U.S. Government committing surveillance against
    journalists and other human rights workers at the southern
    border. I signed on a letter that was authored by my colleague,
    Mr. Castro, regarding this problem, but I want to ask you, how
    does this hurt the U.S.'s credibility on press freedom and is
    it not only tweets by the President Trump that is causing more
    alarming action from all of us?
        Mr. Simon. OK. Well, that is a lot to cover. I think I
    spoke about the way in which the President talks about the role
    of journalists in this country, which as I think Ms. Repucci
    correctly indicated is aimed at a domestic audience, empowers
    autocratic leaders and undermines U.S. influence when the
    government tries to exert it on behalf of journalists and press
    freedom. So it is of deep concern. Obviously, it is not a press
    freedom issue, per se, the President is free to express his
    views in whichever way he chooses to express them. There is a
    risk as you indicated that some people may take this language
    literally, and there is some evidence that people have done
    that and that is as you indicate alarming as well.
        I think you have identified one very critical press freedom
    issue and that is the way in which journalists who are crossing
    the border into the United States have been subjected to
    searches that we believe are overly broad and inhibit their
    ability to carry out their work outside the country. Securing,
    the ability of journalists to secure their data is critical to
    their work and we have raised concerns and we have engaged with
    DHS on that issue and we have not got satisfactory response in
    our view.
        I also want to note a second concern that is a broader
    legal concern and that is about the aggressive prosecution of
    journalists' sources. This was a trend which actually began in
    the Obama Administration which prosecuted eight journalists'
    sources under the Espionage Act, which is an overly broad, in
    our view, instrument for this purpose and has a chilling effect
    on the media. But we have seen a number of cases in the Trump
    administration, so this is a long-term trend. It is a legal
    threat to press freedom and it concerns us greatly. Thank you.
        Ms. Omar. Thank you. If I can take just 1 second. I wanted
    to say to Ms. Cengiz, thank you so much for the courage you are
    showing. There is not really anything any of us could say to
    ease the pain that you must have endured the last 7 months.
        I had the privilege of attending an Iftar with Jamal last
    year. And as you were speaking about the loving relationship
    you shared, I remember he had said to me--he took a famous
    picture of Keith Ellison and I, and he said, ``Ilhan, you need
    to run for Congress.'' And I said, ``I cannot run for Congress
    because the person, the only seat I can run for is occupied by
    Keith Ellison.'' And we laughed about that and I did not really
    know that that would be the last time that I would see him.
        But he was always courageous in the work that he did and
    you are showing courage, and I hope that we get to follow that
    in being courageous and making sure that justice is served in
    his death.
        Ms. Bass. Thank you for sharing that, Rep. Omar.
        Rep. Houlahan.
        Ms. Houlahan. Thank you, Madam Chair.
        And I also want to say thank you so much to you all for
    coming and for sharing your lives and your stories with us so
    that we can hopefully be helpful and do something about it. I
    am deeply grateful for your stories.
        I also have a story as well that I would like to share with
    the record and with the Congress as well. In my home State of
    Pennsylvania, we suffered recently a loss as well of a
    journalist as well. His passion was particular to South Sudan
    and he was shot and killed by South Sudanese Government forces
    2 years ago. And so if it is OK, I would like to enter this
    very recent article about him for the record.
        Ms. Bass. Without objection.
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        Ms. Houlahan. Because I know that his family is grieving as
    well and we grieve for him and his family in the same way that
    we grieve for you.
        And so, I guess what I would like to ask, because it sounds
    as though many of my colleagues have asked questions about what
    can we do against government to make sure that we are helpful
    as a Congress, my first question is to Mr. Simon. In your
    estimation, how much of the violence against journalists is
    government-directed or attributed, and how much is perpetuated,
    do you think, by criminal or terrorist organizations or other
    nongovernmental organizations to the degree that you have data
    or information about that?
        Mr. Simon. Well, the data base that we have that would be
    most relevant would be the number of journalists killed and the
    perpetrators of that violence, because obviously repressive
    action, journalists imprisoned, that is all perpetrated by
    governments. I would like to get back to you on the specific
    numbers rather than citing them off the top of my head, but I
    will say and I can affirm that the threat from non-State actors
    is rising and has been rising for a number of years.
        So these would include criminal organizations like Mexican
    drug cartels, like other criminal organizations, for example,
    in Central America and Brazil journalists are threatened by
    criminal organization. Also, radical Islamist groups in places
    like Syria, in Iraq. And, you know, the way, the engagement
    that you have to have in order to defend journalists working in
    those kinds of high-risks environment is different since
    advocacy with those groups is generally not going to be
    effective.
        Ms. Houlahan. Is there anything that you can think of from
    a United States standpoint, from a congressional standpoint
    that we can do to sort of tease those things apart and to be
    helpful in the cases where it is not necessarily directly
    attributable to a State?
        Mr. Simon. Yes. I mean one thing that I talked about in my
    remarks is hostage policy. That is one dynamic that is part of
    the threat from non-State actors is they have and they continue
    to take journalists hostage. And I think we need a more
    flexible and dynamic approach to that issue as government. I
    think we have a kind of rigid framework in which we operate and
    that does not always lead to the best outcomes. And I think
    that the U.S. Government can and has supported initiatives to
    ensure that journalists have access to safety information and
    the support that they need to do their jobs safely in those
    kinds of environments and that is absolutely an action that the
    U.S. Government can take.
        Ms. Houlahan. Thank you. And with my last little bit of
    question I would love to hear about what steps we can take
    specific to female, women journalists and the particularly
    different issues that face them, if any, that you guys can give
    us as advice to be helpful, to anybody who can answer that
    question.
        Mr. Simon. I am sorry. I was actually looking at a note
    with data on that my colleague passed to me on the number of
    journalists killed since 1992. 213 of those crimes were
    attributed to government, 139 to criminal groups, 253 to
    military officials which are functionally governments, and then
    453 to political groups. So that is a pretty good breakdown of
    the data.
        Ms. Houlahan. Thank you.
        And with the last few seconds of my time, I also have a
    story also from a member of my community, Coatesville,
    Pennsylvania, a Mr. Rachadi Abdallah who was a resident and now
    is an American citizen of Comoros. And he has been recently
    engaged in his version of fighting back against a non-democracy
    in his former nation and was recently imprisoned as well as
    journalists in his community have been imprisoned too. And this
    was his testimony when he came to visit me, so this is also for
    the record as well.
        Thank you very much for the work that you are doing. It
    could not be more important. It is one of the reasons why I ran
    for Congress, turns out the truth that matters, so thank you.
        Ms. Bass. Thank you very much.
        A couple of quick questions, Ms. Hoja, I know that you have
    several members of your family, what it says here is at least
    two dozen that are missing. And I was wondering, do you have
    any information about them? What is being done?
        Ms. Hoja. We have heard about instance of this happening,
    but we have not been able to verify. So it is very unclear
    because we cannot directly contact with them. We just hear
    rumors or hear some about our, for--yes, relatives. So, I can
    contact with my parents. After I give testimony last year, they
    open up, the Chinese Government, the phone line. I do not know
    why, but they did, so I can contact with my parents.
        But other relatives as my cousins and my brothers, we are
    not sure about them, are they alive or not. So I would love to
    ask the U.S. embassy in Beijing, can ask about the whereabouts
    and the well-being of me and my colleagues' family members.
    Also----
        Ms. Bass. Excuse me. You are asking us if we can ask; is
    that what you were saying?
        Ms. Hoja. Yes.
        Ms. Bass. And you have the list of names?
        Ms. Hoja. Yes, we have--we already gave the full of the
    list of our families to State Department, also in the Congress.
        Ms. Bass. OK.
        Ms. Hoja. Yes. So all around, like me and my other five
    colleagues, like about 50-something people in the camps, you
    know.
        Ms. Bass. Geez. OK, thank you.
        Ms. Cengiz, I was wondering if you could--and I think you
    referenced this before, but I would like for you to restate it.
    What would you like to see the U.S. Government do?
        Ms. Cengiz. As I have mentioned this to an extent, this
    act, this murder was a great brutality and the last seven, 8
    months nothing was done. The legal procedures and the legal
    procedures that Saudi Arabia undertook is not transparent. We
    still do not know why he was killed. We do not know where his
    corpse is. Congress, if it undertakes an international
    investigation and puts pressure on Saudi Arabia to share the
    information with the public and the United States that could be
    one thing.
        There should also be sanctions on Saudi Arabia, because the
    reason Jamal moved to United States was because there were
    other people like him in prisons in Saudi Arabia who could not
    voice their own opinions and he felt responsible for them. And
    he said, ``In the United States, I can be their voice.'' If we
    cannot bring him back, maybe at least we can help those people
    and other prisoners of thought.
        Ms. Bass. Thank you very much.
        Mr. Smith.
        Mr. Smith. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I think the
    record should know and reflect that the Saudi Arabians have
    been very, very unforthcoming when it comes to information,
    even those who conspired in 9/11. We had a major battle in
    Congress, it was bipartisan, and the legislation, sadly, was
    vetoed by President Obama.
        But in his only act that was overturned by a veto override,
    the legislation to really try to get to the Saudi individuals
    who were part of 9/11, the security agents, so that the courts
    could pursue it without the redactions that would occur because
    of national security so that could go forward, and that did
    pass the House. Chuck Schumer joined in with the Republicans.
    It was a total bipartisan effort. Again, it was the only piece
    of legislation to the best of my knowledge that Barack Obama
    vetoed and then had it overridden by the House and the Senate,
    underscoring the incredible arrogance on the part of Saudi
    Arabia not to be forthcoming about information. I find it
    appalling. I think we all must find it appalling.
        You know, I would ask unanimous consent, Madam Chair, that
    the Washington Post article, ``CIA concludes Saudi Crown Prince
    ordered Jamal Khashoggi's assassination,'' datelined November
    16, 2018, written by Shane Harris, Greg Miller, and Josh
    Dawsey, be made a part of the record. Hopefully, without
    objection, it will be made a part of the record.
        Ms. Bass. Without objection.
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        Mr. Smith. I appreciate that, Madam Chair, because it makes
    very clearly that the CIA as I said before had high confidence
    that they, indeed, it went right to the very top. And so again,
    we need to be very clear and that is why I think, minimally,
    the Magnitsky sanctions ought to be imposed upon the very top,
    including the Prince.
        Second, if I could, you know, I had a bill that I tried for
    years to get passed called the ``Ethiopia Human Rights Act.''
    The Bush Administration opposed it. The Obama Administration
    opposed it. My good friend and colleague who was then the
    ranking member, then he became chairman--it went back and forth
    a few times--Donald Payne, we were in lockstep in trying to get
    this legislation passed with a very, very serious emphasis on
    the lack of press freedom in Ethiopia as well as individuals
    who were being incarcerated for their journalistic writings.
        Last Congress, I authored a bill that laid out a number of
    important benchmarks that we hoped that the new government
    would follow, prominent among which was press freedom. And when
    my good friend and colleague, Ms. Bass, and I traveled to
    Ethiopia and met with the new leader of Ethiopia, Abiy, we were
    very encouraged by his release of political prisoners, his
    sense that press freedom was sacrosanct.
        But I have to tell you, I sat here and had in both parties,
    Democratic and Republican White Houses, State Departments, tell
    me that ``No, this bill will do more harm than good, let's not
    do this.'' Then after we get a change of regime and get a true
    democrat, small d, into the position of power in Addis Ababa
    and is doing all these great things, everybody is on board
    like, ``Yes, we always knew they were a problem.'' So I get
    very cynical sometimes, you know, with the way State
    Departments in all administrations handle things.
        And, Mr. Simon, I want to thank you for your comment a
    moment ago, talking about the long-term trend that you
    mentioned. And I would ask again that with unanimous consent
    that an opinion in the Washington Post by Eric Wemple be made a
    part of the record.
        Ms. Bass. Without objection.
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        Mr. Smith. He does make the point that the criminal
    investigations had its roots in George Bush's administration.
    But then he says the Obama Administration's aggressiveness on
    this front mushroomed into a scandal in the spring of 2013 as
    revelations surfaced that the Justice Department had subpoenaed
    2 months' worth of records of Associated Press journalists. And
    he goes on and talks about a whole lot of other examples. But
    it certainly had a chilling effect on the press during those 8
    years, and we do not want to have any more of that, frankly.
        You know, I was part of a group that went to the Soviet
    Union under the auspices of the Commission on Security and
    Cooperation in Europe, which I have chaired or co-chaired or
    been ranking member for years. It was before the first election
    of the Duma, so it was during the beginnings of Glasnost and
    Perestroika in Russia, the Soviet Union. We had 3 days of
    roundtable discussions with existing members of the Duma, all
    of them unelected, facing their first elections if they were
    going to run again.
        It went into a whole big conversation about press freedom
    and they asked us what do we do when we are attacked by the
    press. And since I sometimes get that a lot, I pointed out that
    we write op-eds, we contact the journalist involved and try to
    set the record straight, and we talk to their editors and try
    to--and maybe even have a letter to the editor to, by someone
    on your staff or a friend to try to make the point that they
    got it wrong. But that is it. The idea of bringing a defamation
    suit when you are a public person is nil and none and almost
    never is successful. But is one of the prices we pay in
    democracies, I think, for having a free and unfettered press.
    They can get it wrong sometimes and grossly wrong.
        I do wish that there was more of an emphasis on responsible
    journalism by some. I remember in the journalism class I took
    in college, the first thing I learned was: What are the three
    As of journalism? Accuracy, accuracy, accuracy. And I wish we
    would get back to some of that. But I raise that because, you
    know, unfortunately, under Putin we have gone back in Russia to
    the bad old days of a lack of journalistic freedom. So I again
    want to thank you for pointing that out. The last
    administration made serious, serious mistakes when it comes to
    press freedom and we do not want to see that replicated through
    the current one. And we certainly do not want Jamal Khashoggi's
    case to go the way of those who were complicit in the Soviet
    Government with 9/11, which continues to this day to be, still,
    not resolved.
        Let me ask just one final question, if I could. There are a
    number of countries in Africa--we are the Africa, Global
    Health, Global Human Rights Committee--that are on the list,
    your list. They are also on Reporters Without Borders. And I
    wonder if you could just speak to some of those countries like
    Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan, all of which, you know, just
    to speak to what we could be doing. You know, you mentioned, I
    thought it was a good point that we be in your recommendations
    that visas and asylum be available to journalists escaping.
        My question, is that happening or not? Are they getting it
    when they try to--fear, you know, escape? And, second, is the
    Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, which you also
    recommend, Mr. Simon, is that also, is the report robust enough
    in your opinion on focusing on journalists? Thank you.
        Mr. Simon. So the answer to the press freedom element in
    the State Department Human Rights Report under the Daniel Pearl
    Press Freedom Act--the State Department is required to have
    robust reporting on press freedom issues--I would say that that
    is not happening. I would like to see that strengthened,
    absolutely, and that is why it is a recommendation. I believe
    that those reports, they can seem bureaucratic, but they send
    an important message about U.S. values and they are received
    with a great deal of attention in the countries whose practices
    are documented.
        So absolutely, I would like to see that strengthened.
    Visas, we deal with that, that is in a very practical way. And
    I think it was more than about the fate of specific individual
    journalists who were threatened that the U.S. was perceived as
    a haven for those persecuted journalists around the world who
    needed to find refuge. That is no longer the case. It is simply
    too difficult even for our organization when we look to
    evacuate journalists who are facing imminent threat of death.
    We often look to other places because we simply----
        Mr. Smith. Is that new or is that a continuation?
        Mr. Simon. It was always a challenge, but it has gotten a
    lot worse. It absolutely has gotten a lot worse. It troubles
    me.
        Mr. Smith. Thank you for that. We will make inquiries on
    that.
        Mr. Simon. Yes. And I think that lives are at stake.
        You asked the question about Africa and I am afraid I
    cannot answer that in 30 seconds. But I will say that Africa in
    some ways defies expectations. There are huge challenges to
    journalists in Africa, but there are some tremendous success
    stories you mentioned.
        Mr. Smith. Yes.
        Mr. Simon. Ethiopia, as an example, and, you know, I think
    when people think of Africa and press freedom they think that,
    you know, there are many journalists imprisoned and high
    numbers of journalists killed. But, actually, Africa is a part
    of the world where as I said there are huge challenges, but
    they are not reflected in that data. So if you want to find
    some good news in Africa you can about press freedom.
        Mr. Smith. One last question, if I could, Madam Chair?
        Ms. Bass. Go ahead.
        Mr. Smith. Ms. Hoja, you made an interesting and very
    important point that not only did they mistreat journalists,
    including people like yourself who are not even in-country, but
    they also go after the families. And I wonder if that is a
    trend that we are seeing elsewhere, because that is especially
    what dictatorships do. But you also say, ``Also not spared are
    our sources.'' And I am wondering, do they track them down too,
    you know, because they do have surveillance capabilities that
    are second to none in China. Do they track down the people that
    are the source in the gist of your articles?
        Ms. Hoja. Yes, it has been. We have several cases we can
    talk more about with the staff later. But recently after the
    camps started, even the one of the survivors, Omir Bekali, even
    he was in Kazakhstan, he was tracked down in Kazakhstan-
    threatened by Chinese officials by phone, also threatening by
    Kazakh officials in Kazakhstan. That is why he leave his family
    to the Turkey. So he just, after he spoke about the experience
    in the camps to the Western media, his father and the whole
    family wound up in the camp. His father passed away in the
    camp. And then other sources, we cannot just openly to give the
    information about them, so I would like to----
        Mr. Smith. But is a problem, as there is a problem?
        Ms. Hoja. Yes, it is.
        Mr. Smith. Do you find that too as well that sources become
    targeted just like the journalists themselves?
        Mr. Simon. Absolutely. Absolutely. And I think, you know,
    one of the things I mentioned in my opening remarks is the
    software developed by the Pegasus Group that was used to track
    Jamal Khashoggi's contacts, that is another example. So there
    is surveillance. There is State-level surveillance, but there
    is also a privately available surveillance tool that----
        Mr. Smith. Now you did say in your testimony that it was
    likely. How confident are you that it was Pegasus? Because you
    got it from another NGO, correct?
        Mr. Simon. Yes. I mean I think there is a high degree of
    likelihood and that is what our researcher was able to
    determine, so that is what we believe.
        Ms. Bass. OK.
        Mr. Smith. Thank you so very much.
        Ms. Bass. I want to----
        Mr. Smith. Can I just make a--the ranking member of the
    full committee, and I would ask unanimous consent that Michael
    McCaul's statement be made a part of the record?
        Ms. Bass. I am sorry?
        Mr. Smith. Michael McCaul's statement be made a part of the
    record?
        Ms. Bass. Oh, sure. Of course, without objection.
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        Ms. Bass. Let me once again thank you all for being here
    today. I do want to just make a statement just for the record
    in terms of what we are facing here with the current
    administration, in my lifetime, is something that I have never
    seen, a President who has called journalists and the press the
    enemy of the people, who has called for the media to be
    investigated, who has called for reporters in the media to be
    jailed, who at rallies has intimated, you know, if they were
    attacked, you know, whatever.
        We had the act of domestic terrorism which one of the
    members referenced the bombs that were placed, you know, at
    CNN, and so what we are going through right now in our country
    is something that we have to pay very careful attention to. We
    cannot just ignore it and say this is the antics of this
    President, because we have to be careful that we do not allow
    this administration to change social norms in this country
    where it then becomes acceptable.
        When you have someone who is deranged that walks into a
    newsroom and actually murders people, you have to be very
    careful of the environment that you are setting if you are the
    leader of the country and are spreading vitriol. And I know
    that prior administrations have made mistakes, but again in my
    lifetime we have never seen anything like we are witnessing
    today.
        I want to thank the witnesses for coming. I want to thank
    Mr. Simon and Ms. Repucci for the work that you do on a daily
    basis, holding the line and making sure the journalists are
    protected.
        And, Ms. Hoja, for what you do with Radio Free Asia. And I
    just cannot even imagine what it would feel like to have two
    dozen of my family members missing and not have the ability to
    find them.
        And then to Ms. Cengiz, I just appreciate you opening
    yourself up to speaking publicly about what has happened. I
    think the world was horrified at the open, blatant murder of
    your fiance and the fact that that has gone unanswered in the
    world is a source of shame. I appreciate what you said in terms
    of what you would like to see from our country. You should know
    from myself and from the ranking member, who has put in more
    than three decades working on these issues and fighting for
    human rights, that we will do what we can. There needs to be
    justice for what was done. Thank you very much. And with that
    the meeting is adjourned.
        [Whereupon, at 3:52 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]

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