Israeli justice has rejected Amnesty International's request to revoke the export license for spyware from the firm NSO, which the NGO said was used in Morocco to spy on a journalist, in a decision rendered public this Monday, July 13.
Read also: The government of Israel criticized for its management of the epidemic
The NSO group, an Israeli company specializing in spy software, produces in particular the Pegasus software which allows not only to access data from a smartphone, but to take control of the camera or microphone. According to the human rights organization Amnesty International, the authorities in Morocco used Pegasus to spy on the telephone of Moroccan journalist Omar Radi. Mr. Radi was " systematically targeted by the Moroccan authorities for his journalism and activism, " said Amnesty.
The NGO had called in June to revoke the export license granted by the Israeli Defense Ministry to the firm NSO, saying that " if the Moroccan authorities are ultimately responsible for the illegal hacking of activists and journalists like Omar Radi, the NSO group contributed to these abuses by keeping the Moroccan government as an active client at least until January 2020 ".
The Tel Aviv court on Sunday rejected the NGO's request. Judge Rachel Barkai said in the decision released on Monday that " there is no evidence that an attempt has been made to monitor a human rights activist while trying to break into his telephone ." According to the judge, the department which controls exports within the Ministry of Defense is " very vigilant " before granting a marketing or export license.
He is also " particularly sensitive to the issue of human rights abuses, " she added. Amnesty International reacted to the Israeli justice decision by denouncing the " impunity " enjoyed by NSO. " The NSO group continues to profit from human rights abuses with impunity, " the NGO said in a statement. " We will continue to do everything in our power to prevent NSO's spy software from being used for human rights abuses, " said Amnesty International.
A complaint filed by WhatsApp in 2019
Last fall, the American specialist in encrypted messaging WhatsApp, owned by the giant Facebook, filed a complaint against NSO, accused of having provided the technology to infect the smartphones of a hundred journalists, human rights defenders and other members of civil society in different countries.
Read also: Why WhatsApp is suing an Israeli company for digital espionage
Founded in 2010, the firm NSO said in May that its technology was " marketed through licenses to governments for the sole purpose of fighting crime and terrorism ".
