Moroccan intelligence uses surveillance to ‘silence’ journalists: Amnesty | Human Rights News
Amnesty International Accuses Morocco of Unlawful Surveillance of Journalists and Activists
Amnesty International has criticized Morocco’s intelligence agency for engaging in unlawful surveillance of journalists and human rights defenders, utilizing spyware, hidden microphones, and pre-infected mobile phones. The findings were detailed in a report released Thursday.
The rights organization highlighted what it described as an “expansive and vast” surveillance apparatus employed by Moroccan authorities to silence critical voices, including journalists and activists.
Titled Inside Morocco’s Surveillance Machine, the report draws from the testimony of a former member of the Moroccan domestic intelligence service (DGST), alongside leaked documents and journalistic investigations.
For years, advocacy groups, including Amnesty, have accused Morocco of leveraging Pegasus spyware—developed by the Israeli company NSO Group—to monitor journalists, activists, and political figures. Despite these allegations, Moroccan officials have consistently denied using spyware against their citizens. Amnesty attempted to engage Moroccan authorities prior to the report’s publication, but received no response. Al Jazeera was also unable to obtain immediate comments from Moroccan officials.
The report identifies the DGST as the agency responsible for deploying Pegasus in Morocco, particularly targeting activists and journalists from 2017 to 2021. Amnesty notes that Moroccan authorities combined high-tech tools like Pegasus with more traditional surveillance methods, including tracking and wiretapping.
According to the report, “people are secretly videoed and audio recorded in detention, in their own offices and cars, and even in their own bedrooms,” as detailed by the whistleblower. It also claims that phone calls are routinely intercepted and that “shops sell mobile phones pre-infected with malware by DGST agents.”
The personal data harvested from activists and human rights defenders is reportedly used to facilitate public smear campaigns against them. The whistleblower further alleged that internet cafes have been infected with remote-controlled spyware and that devices have been compromised at airports. Notably, hidden microphones were discovered in the apartment of journalist Omar Radi, who has since been imprisoned.
Amnesty’s investigation revealed that 103 Moroccan phone numbers were entered into the Pegasus system between September and December 2017, linked to specific individuals. Of these numbers, 65 belonged to members of civil society, including 34 human rights defenders and 22 journalists and media workers. Additionally, 25 corresponded to political figures or officials, and five were diplomats or representatives of international organizations.
“These records show the phone numbers of prominent human rights defenders and journalists were among the first to be entered into the Pegasus system,” said Donncha O Cearbhaill, head of Amnesty’s Security Lab.
The organization also found evidence of spyware being delivered over the state-owned Maroc Telecom network and revealed that Morocco sourced surveillance technology from companies in Israel, the European Union, and the United States.
“Morocco has wholly embraced techno-authoritarian practices,” stated Agnes Callamard, Secretary-General of Amnesty International.
In light of these revelations, Amnesty has called on Moroccan authorities to cease such surveillance activities and urged foreign governments to halt the export of spyware to Morocco until adequate human rights protections are established.
This investigation was conducted in collaboration with 14 media organizations coordinated by Forbidden Stories.
