AMNESTY ACCUSES MOROCCO OF RUNNING VAST SPYWARE OPERATION AGAINST JOURNALISTS AND ACTIVISTS

Sun 04 October 2026:

Rights group says DGST combined Pegasus with hidden microphones and pre-infected phones; Rabat has long denied the claims

Amnesty International has accused Morocco’s domestic intelligence agency of conducting “unlawful surveillance” of journalists and human rights defenders through spyware, concealed microphones and phones already loaded with malware.

In a report released on Thursday, the organisation said Moroccan authorities operate an “expansive and vast” surveillance system used to “ultimately silence journalists, activists and other critical voices”.

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Report draws on whistleblower and leaked records

The study, titled Inside Morocco’s surveillance machine, rests on the account of a former employee of the Direction Générale de la Surveillance du Territoire (DGST), together with leaked documents and earlier journalistic investigations.

Human rights groups, including Amnesty, have for years alleged that Morocco deployed Pegasus spyware, made by Israel’s NSO Group, against journalists, activists and political figures. Moroccan officials have consistently rejected claims that they used such tools on their own citizens. Amnesty said it contacted the authorities four weeks before publication and received no reply. Al Jazeera was unable to obtain an immediate comment from Moroccan officials.

Pegasus linked to DGST between 2017 and 2021

Amnesty identified the DGST as the agency that deployed Pegasus in Morocco, stating that the spyware was used against activists and journalists from 2017 to 2021. The group said authorities paired “high-tech tools” such as Pegasus with older methods, including physical surveillance and wiretaps.

“People are secretly videoed and audio recorded in detention, in their own offices and cars, and even in their own bedrooms,” the report says, citing the whistleblower.

“Phone calls are systematically recorded and spied upon,” and “shops sell mobile phones pre-infected with malware by DGST agents”.

According to Amnesty, personal information gathered on activists and human rights defenders was later used in public smear campaigns. The former insider alleged that the agency planted remote-controlled spyware in internet cafes, that devices were tampered with at airports, and that microphones were concealed in the light fittings of the apartment of journalist Omar Radi, who was subsequently jailed.

Numbers entered into Pegasus system

Amnesty said it linked 103 Moroccan phone numbers entered into the Pegasus system between September and December 2017 to named individuals. Of those, 65 belonged to civil society figures, including 34 human rights defenders and 22 journalists and media workers. A further 25 were political figures or officials, and five were diplomats or representatives of international organisations.

“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 organisation also reported evidence that spyware was delivered over the state-owned Maroc Telecom network, and that Morocco acquired surveillance tools from firms based in Israel, the European Union and the United States.

“Morocco has wholly embraced techno-authoritarian practices,” Amnesty Secretary-General Agnes Callamard said.

Calls to end surveillance and restrict exports

Amnesty urged Morocco to stop the surveillance and asked other states to suspend spyware sales to the country until human rights protections are established. The investigation formed part of a project with 14 media outlets coordinated by Forbidden Stories.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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