RABAT —
Morocco on Friday demanded Amnesty
International provide evidence of its report that Rabat used Israeli-made
Pegasus spyware to monitor activists, including a human rights campaigner from
the disputed Western Sahara.
اضافة اعلان
Pegasus, developed by the Israeli
NSO group, can hack into
mobile phones without a user knowing, enabling clients to read every message,
track a user's location and tap into the phone's camera and microphone.
In July 2021, a global investigation revealed Pegasus has
been used by repressive regimes to target journalists, dissidents, diplomats
and others.
The Moroccan authorities have consistently denied using the
spyware, and dismissed a report by rights group Amnesty as "arbitrary
accusations", the government's Interministerial Department for Human
Rights said Friday.
The statement came in response to an
Amnesty report earlier
this month which claimed two phones belonging to prominent activist Aminatou
Haidar had been targeted using the spyware.
Rabat denied Amnesty's report and demanded to see the
"material evidence supporting its allegations".
Morocco has said it "never acquired computer software
to infiltrate communication devices".
Haidar comes from the former Spanish colony of Western
Sahara, which Rabat claims as its own sovereign territory but where the
separatist Polisario Front seeks independence.
Morocco controls most of the territory and has offered
autonomy but insists it must retain sovereignty.
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