Morocco's intelligence services have been under scrutiny for their extensive use of Pegasus, a powerful hacking software, to target a wide range of individuals, including journalists, human rights activists, politicians, and law enforcement officers. This revelation comes from a former member of Morocco's domestic intelligence service, who provided unprecedented insights into the country's surveillance operations. The whistleblower, known as Safir, claims that Pegasus, manufactured by the Israel-based NSO Group, was used to access sensitive information on mobile phones, such as emails, text messages, and photographs, and even activate the phone's camera and microphone remotely.
The NSO Group's Pegasus software has sparked controversy due to its alleged misuse by various countries to target dissidents, journalists, diplomats, and politicians. Morocco, however, has consistently denied these accusations, refuting claims that it had any relationship with the NSO Group. Yet, evidence from Safir and a multiyear investigation by Moroccan journalist Hicham Mansouri, supported by a consortium of 14 media organizations and Amnesty International's Security Lab, paints a different picture.
According to the investigation, NSO Group representatives demonstrated Pegasus to high-ranking Moroccan intelligence officers and technical experts in a villa in Rabat in 2017. The demonstration showcased Pegasus's remote infection capabilities, allowing operators to access targets' phones without physical access. This revelation suggests that Morocco's internal security services began using Pegasus in 2017, targeting both domestic and foreign individuals.
The Pegasus Project: Inside the Moroccan Spying Machine investigation uncovered a leaked database that included the mobile numbers of Moroccan journalists and human rights defenders, as well as a Spanish activist, Aminatou Haidar. The database also revealed that Pegasus was used to target Spanish politicians, including the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, and the defense minister, Margarita Robles, during a tense diplomatic row between Spain and Morocco.
The Spanish government's inability to investigate the Pegasus targeting of its cabinet members has been attributed to a lack of cooperation from Israeli authorities. However, recent analysis suggests that Morocco's DGST was responsible for these targeting attempts. Leaked documents and testimony indicate that the DGST used Pegasus to access the communications of Spanish security forces and even sought to spy on Guardia Civil officers who had traveled to Morocco for counter-terrorism expertise.
The use of Pegasus in Morocco has raised concerns about human rights violations and international espionage. The DGST's extensive surveillance capabilities, combined with the country's history of political tensions, have led to a complex web of accusations and counter-accusations. The investigation has not found any evidence of Pegasus-aided surveillance in Morocco after late 2021, but the implications of the software's use remain a subject of ongoing debate and concern.
