Morocco's intelligence services have been under scrutiny for their extensive use of Pegasus, a powerful hacking software developed by the Israeli company NSO Group. A former member of Morocco's domestic intelligence service, known as Safir, has provided unprecedented insights into the country's surveillance operations. Safir's testimony, corroborated by leaked material and technical analysis, reveals a disturbing pattern of surveillance targeting journalists, human rights defenders, French politicians, and Spanish cabinet ministers and police officers.
The Pegasus software, with its remote-infection capabilities, can access everything on a target's mobile phone, including emails, text messages, and photographs. It can also activate the phone's recorder and camera, turning it into a listening device. NSO Group claims Pegasus is sold only to governments for tracking criminals and terrorists, but evidence suggests it has been used by several countries to target dissidents, journalists, diplomats, and politicians.
Morocco has consistently denied using Pegasus to target critics at home or abroad, despite the overwhelming evidence. Safir's testimony, along with leaked emails, targeting records, and internal training material, paints a picture of a sophisticated surveillance program. The DGST, Morocco's internal security service, began using Pegasus in 2017 and continued for four years, deploying it against both domestic and foreign targets.
The investigation, coordinated by Forbidden Stories and 14 media organizations, including Le Monde and the Guardian, has uncovered a web of surveillance activities. NSO Group representatives demonstrated Pegasus to high-ranking Moroccan intelligence officers in 2017, showcasing its remote-infection capabilities. The software was then used to target Moroccan journalists, human rights defenders, and even Spanish activists and journalists, such as Aminatou Haidar and Ignacio Cembrero.
The Pegasus project records reveal over 200 Spanish mobile numbers targeted by Morocco, including those of the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, and the defense minister, Margarita Robles. This targeting occurred during a tense diplomatic row between Spain and Morocco over migration policies. The Spanish government's repeated attempts to investigate the Pegasus use have been hindered by a lack of cooperation from Israeli authorities.
Leaked documents and testimony suggest the DGST sought access to the communications of Spanish security forces officers who had traveled to Morocco. The personal phone number of a senior Guardia Civil officer was found on the list of Pegasus targets. This revelation has caused a scandal, with one union describing it as a betrayal of the force's officers.
The investigation also uncovered evidence of Morocco's use of Pegasus in the US court case against NSO Group. Meta, WhatsApp's parent company, accused NSO Group of exploiting its messaging platform for surveillance. NSO Group was subsequently placed on a US blacklist, and Israel's defense ministry barred imports of its cyber-technology to several countries, including Morocco.
While the investigation has not found evidence of Pegasus-aided surveillance in Morocco after late 2021, the extent of the country's surveillance capabilities and its potential involvement in global surveillance operations remains a cause for concern. The case highlights the need for transparency and accountability in the use of such powerful surveillance tools, and the potential for abuse by authoritarian regimes.
