Morocco denies role in spyware saga
Publish date: 26 July 2021
Issue Number: 932
Diary: IBA Legalbrief Africa
Category: Security
Morocco has issued a statement denying any involvement in the Pegasus spy software case and rejected ‘unfounded and false allegations’. This after Le Monde quoted sources as saying that one of Macron’s phone numbers, which he had used regularly since 2017, is on the list of numbers selected by Morocco’s intelligence service for potential cyberspying. Business Day reports that an investigation by 17 media organisations, led by the Paris-based non-profit journalism group Forbidden Stories, said the spyware, made and licensed by Israeli company NSO, had been used in attempted and successful hacks of smartphones belonging to journalists, government officials and human rights activists on a global scale. An NSO spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request by Reuters for comment on the Le Monde reports and other French media about Macron. It stressed it did not have access to Macron’s phone and therefore could not verify if it was indeed spied on. However, it said it could verify other phones, including that of former Environment Minister Francois de Rugy, and was able to verify that it was hacked. Ironically, Moroccan King Mohamed VI is among world leaders whose phones may have been selected as potential targets for the spyware, a new investigation has revealed. The Independent reports that the list includes phone numbers linked to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly.
Full report in The Independent on Saturday (subscription needed)
Separately, a Moroccan court has convicted a prominent journalist whose phone had been tapped with the Pegasus spyware. Omar Radi was convicted of sexual assault and spying was sentenced to six years' imprisonment. BBC News reports that he has denied the charges. Shortly before charges were brought against him, Amnesty International found that the authorities had used the Israeli-made spyware to tap into his phone. Morocco denies this.
And President Emmerson Mnangagwa's administration in 2019 acquired the spyware for use by the Central Intelligence Organisation, intelligence sources have claimed. The revelations have given raise to fears that the government was targeting opposition politicians, activists and journalists in the run up to the 2023 general election. Intelligence sources told New Zimbabwe that the spyware was acquired to augment software which was sourced from China in 2015. ‘In 2015, the organisation acquired similar equipment from China and it has been in use ever since. But government later in 2019 purchased another software from the Israel-based company to ‘complement’ it. ‘It's not very clear yet if the software has been used, but it's there,’ the source said.
Meanwhile, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is ‘shocked’ by allegations that Kigali hired a firm to hack his phone. This after it emerged that Ramaphosa’s mobile phone number was on a list of targets for potential surveillance. A TimesLIVE report notes that the leaked database includes the mobile phone numbers of 14 heads of state and heads of government. The Guardian last week reported that Ramaphosa appeared to have been selected by Rwanda in 2019.
And the daughter of Paul Rusesabagina, the imprisoned activist who inspired the film Hotel Rwanda, has been the victim of a near-constant surveillance campaign, according to a forensic analysis of her mobile phone that found evidence of multiple attacks using NSO Group spyware. Carine Kanimba, a US-Belgian dual citizen, has been leading her family’s effort to free her father from prison following Rusesabagina’s abduction and forced return to Kigali last year. The Guardian reports that Amnesty International’s forensic analysis found that Kanimba’s phone had been infiltrated since at least January this year. It strongly suggests that Paul Kagame’s Government – which has long been suspected of being a client of the Israeli surveillance firm NSO – has been able to monitor the 28-year-old’s private calls and discussions with US, European and British Government officials. A spokesperson for the Rwandan Government said the country ‘does not use this software system … and does not possess this technical capability in any form’.
