Sahrawi activist Aminatou Haidar targeted with Pegasus spyware

Sahrawi peace activist and 2019 Right Livelihood Laureate Aminatou Haidar has been targeted with Pegasus spyware, Amnesty International’s Security Lab confirmed on Wednesday.

Read Amnesty’s press release for further details.

Haidar reacted to the revelations with the following comments:

“I welcome the facts revealed by Amnesty International, which refute NSO Group’s claims that the attacks did not occur. This is a company that profits from human rights violations providing surveillance and spying technology to authoritarian countries such as the Moroccan occupation state. Morocco uses espionage to suppress freedoms and restrict the activity of human rights defenders in Western Sahara.

This is yet another crime to add to the long list of violations Morocco continues to commit against the Sahrawi population without accountability.

I strongly condemn this heinous crime and hold the Moroccan state fully responsible for all its consequences on me and my personal safety and that of my family. I also hold the Israeli NSO Group responsible and will use all available legal means to prosecute them.”

Haidar was referred to Amnesty International by Right Livelihood, as part of our long-term support to Laureates.

Right Livelihood was “deeply alarmed” by the news, according to a joint statement we published with our partner Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights.

“In a context where Moroccan authorities have been repressing any forms of dissent in Western Sahara for decades, this comes as worrying evidence that digital attacks and surveillance are being increasingly used against Sahrawi activists and human rights defenders as an additional tool of repression,” the statement said.