“Highly intrusive spyware threatens the essence of human rights”, writes Dunja Mijatović, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, in a “Comment” published on 27 January.
She looks back at the “Pegasus” investigation, which 18 months ago revealed the identification of over 50,000 telephone numbers of journalists, human rights defenders, academics, opposition leaders, etc. as “potential targets”.
Used by more than a dozen States - including Morocco, whose practices were at the root of the 2022 revelations, as well as some Council of Europe Member States - this software was not implemented solely “for a legitimate public safety purpose”, notes Mrs Mijatović.
It has been used by government agencies without democratic oversight, resulting in “grave human rights violations”, including freedom of expression and participation in democratic debate, the Commissioner said, warning of the “chilling effect” on democracy of these devices, which are growing “exponentially”.
She recalls that the European ‘Predator’ software was delivered to a Sudanese militia and urges Council of Europe Member States to “strengthen their regulatory framework” and impose “a strict moratorium on the export, sale, transfer and use” of spyware.
Link to the “Comment”: https://aeur.eu/f/544 (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)