Western Sahara activist Aminatou Haidar targeted by Pegasus

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An analysis conducted by Amnesty International's Security Lab revealed that Sahrawi human rights defender Aminatou Haidar has recently been targeted by NSO Group's Pegasus spyware.

The spyware, made by Israel's NSO Group, hacked Haidar in November 2021 after data leaks revealed that many journalists and political leaders had been targeted by the program.

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Haidar has been a nonviolent fighter for human rights and the independence of Western Sahara since the 1980s, based in Laayoune in Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara. She has been imprisoned twice in Morocco and has received several international accolades for her work.

Haidar expressed to Middle East Eye (MEE) that she "strongly" condemns the heinous crime and holds Morocco "responsible for all its consequences on me and my personal safety and that of my family."

The targeting of Haidar, according to Danna Ingleton, deputy director of Amnesty Tech, "mere months ago is further proof that companies like NSO Group will continue to facilitate human rights violations unless they are properly regulated."

The acting head of Amnesty's Security Lab, Donncha Cearbhaill, stated that they could not be confident the Sahrawi activist's phone was targeted by Moroccan officials.

He told MEE that technical evidence is missing to connect it to a specific country or operator, adding that "we have in the past proved that Morocco was behind the use of Pegasus, for example with the journalist Omar Radi." A Moroccan court recently affirmed Radi's six-year jail term.

The Polisario Front criticized the use of Pegasus to target an individual. “We absolutely condemn such dirty tactics," Polisario Spokesperson Sidi Breika told MEE.

#Pegasus Hall of Shame! pic.twitter.com/m0DEA0TfHw

— Ashok Swain (@ashoswai) July 18, 2021

“We call on the UN to take its responsibility in regards to Western Sahara. It's a territory under its responsibility and its silence towards Morocco's serious human rights violations against defenceless Sahrawi citizens in the occupied territories, including the dangerous terrorising use of Pegasus spyware in order to control the lives of human rights activists, is inconceivable.”

Moroccan authorities disputed the most recent findings, citing a "lack of material evidence." NSO Group has not responded to Amnesty's request for comment, although it has previously refused to confirm or deny whether Moroccan authorities utilize its software.

Ahmed Ettanji, a Sahrawi activist and founder of Equipe Media, said “Morocco is responsible for this. Since its invasion of Western Sahara, it has used everything at its disposal to surveil Sahrawi activists.”

Nothing to hide

Ettanji and Mansour Mohammed Moloud, an activist from the Nushatta Foundation, confirmed that Morocco utilizes various ways to find information to discredit Sahrawi activists.

"Pegasus allows Moroccan intelligence to access all our data, including personal information that can be used to defame us"

Moloud added that although the Moroccan authorities accuse the activists of acts that may discredit them, they have nothing to hide.

Moloud stated that he had to see Haidar at her house since she is being watched by Moroccan officials 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

In reference to the recent normalization between Morocco and "Israel", Ettanji revealed that “of course the strong Moroccan-Israeli relations help Morocco a lot with the procurement of advanced spy tools."

Moloud described both Morocco and "Isreal" as occupiers, referring to Morocco in the Western Sahara.

In regards to Western support of Ukraine and its anti-Russian narrative, Moloud said, “The US and the UK want to impose Moroccan dictatorship on us, but are against the same thing happening to the people of Ukraine."