Unveiling Morocco's Intrusive Surveillance Network
Morocco is home to a sophisticated and extensive surveillance infrastructure, which employs both digital and analog methods to monitor, track, and ultimately silence journalists, activists, and other dissenting voices, according to a recent report by Amnesty International. This revelatory document, titled "We Start with the Verdict: Inside Morocco’s Surveillance Machine,” exposes the unlawful surveillance practices utilized by Moroccan authorities against human rights defenders and journalists, highlighting the criminal prosecutions, judicial harassment, and other repressive measures that violate fundamental rights such as privacy, liberty, and freedom of expression. Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International, emphasized that Morocco has fully adopted techno-authoritarian practices, acquiring diverse surveillance technologies to establish a repressive regime that instills fear among activists and journalists, thereby obstructing their work both within and beyond the country’s borders.
Despite Morocco's repeated denials of utilizing spyware for surveilling its citizens, compelling evidence obtained by Amnesty International—including whistleblower accounts, leaked surveillance data, and government records—paints a different picture. This evidence details not only the breadth of tools and techniques employed against dissenters but also the international vendors supplying these invasive technologies. The report provides a thorough overview of the advanced surveillance tools used by Moroccan authorities, such as high-tech spyware and audio bugging systems, which are acquired from companies based in Israel, the European Union, and the United States, including the notorious NSO Group and the now-defunct Hacking Team. This global economy of techno-oppression, enabled by corporations and states neglecting their international obligations, perpetuates a repressive ecosystem that severely restricts the rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly in Morocco.
The Inner Workings of Surveillance: Insights from a Whistleblower
The report additionally introduces a whistleblower known as _Safir_, a former employee of the Direction Générale de la Surveillance du Territoire (DGST), which is identified as the entity responsible for deploying Pegasus spyware in Morocco. Through multiple interviews conducted over several years, _Safir_ revealed the inner workings of the DGST, detailing the extensive range of surveillance tools and techniques utilized by the agency. These accounts were corroborated by independent sources and technical evidence gathered by Amnesty International. The combination of firsthand accounts and digital forensics research allows for a comprehensive understanding of Morocco's state surveillance operations. _Safir_ disclosed that targets are often secretly recorded in detention, at their workplaces, inside their vehicles, and even within their homes. Furthermore, phone calls are intercepted, and location data is continuously tracked, exposing the daily movements of activists and their associates. Alarmingly, _Safir_ also described how phone shop owners were colluded with DGST agents to sell pre-infected mobile devices, further entrenching the invasive surveillance practices.
Moroccan authorities’ methods extend beyond mere surveillance of individuals; the effects ripple through families, friends, and professional networks, targeting anyone connected to the activists. Without judicial oversight, agents operate with impunity, utilizing a wide array of tactics to discredit, shame, and, when necessary, unjustly imprison those who dare to advocate for human rights. As noted by Rebecca White, a researcher at Amnesty International’s Security Lab, this pervasive surveillance creates an environment where human rights defenders find it virtually impossible to evade the state’s all-encompassing watch. The report also documents how the DGST employs various infection methods, including physical device infections, one-click attacks that exploit victims’ clicks on malicious links, zero-click attacks that compromise devices without any action from the target, and network injection attacks delivered through state-controlled telecom networks.
In light of these findings, Amnesty International has called for an immediate cessation of unlawful surveillance practices directed at human rights defenders and journalists in Morocco. The report emphasizes that these surveillance operations not only violate domestic laws but also contravene international human rights standards. It urges the Moroccan judicial system to ensure thorough investigations into the reported instances of unlawful surveillance and demands that states refrain from exporting spyware and other privacy-invasive technologies to Morocco until robust human rights safeguards are established.
As reported by amnestyusa.org.
