Saudi Arabia has ramped up executions in the first half of 2021 following a drop during its G20 presidency in 2020, according to United Kingdom-based rights group Amnesty International.
Archiv: Amnesty International (organization)
Joint open letter by civil society organizations and independent experts calling on states to implement an immediate moratorium on the sale, transfer and use of surveillance technology
The investigation has so far also identified at least 180 journalists in 20 countries who were selected for potential targeting with NSO spyware between 2016 to June 2021. Deeply concerning details that have emerged include evidence that family members of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi were targeted with Pegasus software before and after his murder in Istanbul on 2 October 2018 by Saudi operatives,despite repeated denials from NSO Group that its products were used to target Khashoggi or his family members.
The revelations are only a tip of the iceberg.
Digitalcourage und 145 weitere Organisationen fordern ein sofortiges Moratorium für Überwachungstechnologien
Digitalcourage und 145 weitere Organisationen fordern ein sofortiges Moratorium für Überwachungstechnologien. Als Reaktion auf die Veröffentlichungen des „Pegasus-Projekt“ ist jetzt die Politik gefordert, den Schutz von Bürgerinnen und Bürgern in den Vordergrund zu stellen. Daher müssen staatliche Genehmigungen für Verkauf und Export solcher Technologien umgehend ausgesetzt werden, mindestens bis Regulierungen zum Schutz der Menschenrechte umgesetzt wurden.
Die Berichterstattung der letzten Woche zum Pegasus-Projekt hat bestätigt, wie gefährlich die Entwicklung, der Vertrieb und die Nutzung von Überwachungstechnologien für Demokratie und Menschenrechte ist. Der Einsatz von Staatstrojanern, wie der Pegasus-Software, ist eine Gefahr für Demokratie und Menschenrechte. Durch die Installation derartiger Software können Dritte die vollständige Kontrolle über das Gerät übernehmen und so z.B. Nachrichten auf einem Smartphone mitlesen oder Mikrofon und Kamera aus der Ferne einschalten. Daher haben sich über 145 Organisationen und 28 Expert.innen zusammengetan und einen offenen Brief verfasst, welcher nun von Amnesty International veröffentlicht wurde.
iMessage, WhatsApp, and FaceTime are vulnerable to „zero-click exploits“ — bugs that allow hackers to commandeer a mobile phone even when the target does nothing to trigger the breach. #PegasusProject
(1) @AmnestyTech saw an iOS 14.6 device hacked with a zero-click iMessage exploit to install Pegasus. We at @citizenlab also saw 14.6 device hacked with a zero-click iMessage exploit to install Pegasus. All this indicates that NSO Group can break into the latest iPhones.
Spähsoftware: Wie „Pegasus“ aufs Handy kommt
Sicherheitsexperten von Amnesty International fanden auf mehreren, auch aktuellen iPhones Spuren der „Pegasus“-Software, die anscheinend auf diesem Weg auf das Gerät gelangt war. Ihrer Analyse zufolge kann das Spähprogramm unter Ausnutzung des internetbasierten Dienstes iMessage aus der Ferne installiert werden. Die NSO-Kunden müssen dafür nur die Telefonnummer der Zielperson eingeben.
Trojaner „Pegasus“: Wie autoritäre Staaten ihre Gegner ausspähen
Gemeinsam mit der Organisation Forbidden Stories und Amnesty International haben die Journalisten einen Datensatz von mehr als 50.000 Telefonnummern ausgewertet.
Es handelt sich dabei um eine Liste von potenziellen Ausspähzielen, die von Kunden der israelischen Firma NSO Group ausgewählt wurden. NSO gehört zu den führenden Herstellern kommerzieller Spionagesoftware,
NSO’s Pegasus: The Israeli Cyber Weapon Oppressive Regimes Used Against 180 Journalists
Forbidden Stories and Amnesty International had access to a leak of more than 50,000 records of phone numbers that NSO clients selected for surveillance. According to an analysis of these records by the group and its partners, more than 180 journalists were selected in 21 countries by at least 12 NSO clients.
Egypt: Nine people put to death in chilling Ramadan executions
Responding to the news that the Egyptian authorities executed nine people today, including an 82-year-old man, after a grossly unfair trial, in relation to the killing of 13 police officers during an attack on Kerdasa police station in August 2013, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Research and Advocacy Director, Philip Luther said:
Top Saudi official issued death threat against UN investigator
A senior official issued a death threat against UN investigator Agnes Callamard following her inquiry into the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the Guardian reported on Tuesday.
French security bill: ‘Illegal tactics’ used against protesters
Amnesty condemns police arrests of people who attended mass demonstrations against controversial bill.
Western media’s favorite Hong Kong ‘freedom struggle writer’ is American ex-Amnesty staffer in yellowface
Since bursting onto the Hong Kong Twitter scene, Kong Tsung-gan has been quoted by a who’s who of Western corporate media outlets. He has been described as an “author” (CNN, Globe and Mail, Time), “writer and activist” (New York Times, Washington Post), “activist and author” (LA Times),“activist” (AFP, Al Jazeera), “writer, educator and activist” (Guardian), “political writer” (Foreign Policy), “writer” (Vice), and “Hong Kong writer and activist” in an op-ed posted by the Nikkei Asian Review.
Kong has also been cited as a “Hong Kong journalist and rights activist” by Radio Free Asia and as a “rights activist and author” by Voice of America, two subsidiaries of the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM). Tasked with a mission to “be consistent with the broad foreign policy objectives of the United States,” the USAGM budgeted around $2 million to support protests in Hong Kong in 2020.
Remember “Gay Girl In Damascus” the fake Syrian lesbian aka Tom MacMaster, who rallied gullible western liberal support for Syria regime change? Turns out one of the most popular US-backed Hong Kong protest “voices” is another hoax
Police committed 125 human rights violations during Floyd protests: Amnesty
In the report published Tuesday, Amnesty alleges the violations occurred in 40 states during demonstrations following the May 25 police killing of Floyd in Minneapolis.
Amnesty International: Schwere Vorwürfe gegen US-Polizei
Die Sicherheitskräfte hätten wiederholt körperliche Gewalt, chemische Reizstoffe wie Tränengas und Pfefferspray sowie Geschosse eingesetzt, um friedliche Proteste aufzulösen, heißt es in der Studie. Die jüngsten Ereignisse hätten Bedenken hinsichtlich „des Rechts auf Leben, der Sicherheit von Personen, dem gleichen Schutz vor dem Gesetz“ sowie der freien Meinungsäußerung und der friedlichen Versammlung geweckt.
Israeli court dismisses Amnesty bid to block spyware firm NSO
A Tel Aviv court has rejected a legal case filed by Amnesty International that attempted to block the Israeli spyware firm NSO Group from selling its cyberweapons internationally.
The rights groups sought to force the Israeli defence ministry to revoke NSO Group’s export licence for its leading phone-hacking software, Pegasus. Amnesty’s lawyers alleged the product had been used by repressive governments to target activists, including one the rights group’s own researchers, as well as journalists.
Israel: Court rejects bid to revoke notorious spyware firm NSO Group’s export licence
“Today’s disgraceful ruling is a cruel blow to people put at risk around the world by NSO Group selling its products to notorious human rights abusers. At a moment when NSO and the Israeli MOD should be held accountable for their practices, it is appalling that the court has failed to do so.
“NSO Group continues to profit from human rights abuses with impunity. The ruling of the court flies in the face of the mountains of evidence of NSO Group’s spyware being used to target human rights defenders from Saudi Arabia to Mexico, including the basis of this case – the targeting of one of our own Amnesty employees. We will continue to do all we can to stop NSO Group’s spyware being used to commit human rights abuses.
With Whom are Many U.S. Police Departments Training? With a Chronic Human Rights Violator – Israel
(August 25, 2016)
Baltimore law enforcement officials, along with hundreds of others from Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, California, Arizona, Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Georgia, Washington state as well as the DC Capitol police have all traveled to Israel for training. Thousands of others have received training from Israeli officials here in the U.S.
Many of these trips are taxpayer funded while others are privately funded. Since 2002, the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee’s Project Interchange and the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs have paid for police chiefs, assistant chiefs and captains to train in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).
Israel’s NSO Helped Moroccan Gov’t Spy on Journalist, Amnesty Claims
Israeli cyber espionage company NSO provided tools that helped the Moroccan regime track a local journalist named Omar Radi, according to a thorough investigation that human rights organization Amnesty International conducted over the past few months. The report was released on Monday.
The espionage against Radi began only a few days after NSO ostensibly committed itself to a new policy of transparency in keeping with the United Nations’ human rights guidelines for companies, according to the Amnesty investigation.
Journalist mit „Pegasus“ ausgespäht?
Das Programm, das auf sein Handy gespielt worden sein soll, soll laut Amnesty-Analyse von der israelischen Firma NSO stammen und nennt sich „Pegasus“. Mithilfe der Software ist es möglich, jegliche Kommunikation eines Mobiltelefons mitzuschneiden – egal, ob es sich dabei um Telefonate, SMS oder E-Mails handelt. Offiziell wird die NSO-Software zur Jagd auf Verbrecher und Terroristen eingesetzt.
Secretive Israeli firm behind WhatsApp spyware hack is sued by Amnesty International over ’surveillance of its staff‘
– Amnesty International have filed a lawsuit in Israel following the WhatsApp hack
– Amnesty have accused NSO of not giving due diligence in selling their product
– This week WhatsApp said NSO’s spyware software was used in a security breach
– WhatsApp said the attack may have been launched against human rights groups
Israel: Amnesty International engages in legal action to stop NSO Group’s web of surveillance
(13.05.2019)
Amnesty International is supporting a legal action to take the Israeli Ministry of Defence (MoD) to court, to demand that it revokes the export license of NSO Group, an Israeli company whose spyware products have been used in chilling attacks on human rights defenders around the world.
In a petition to be filed tomorrow at the District Court of Tel Aviv, approximately 30 members and supporters of Amnesty International Israel and others from the human rights community set out how the MoD has put human rights at risk by allowing NSO to continue exporting its products.
Arming Dictators, Equipping Pariahs: Alarming Picture of Israel’s Arms Sales
A thorough report by Amnesty International is harshly critical of Israel’s policies on arms exports. According to the report written in Hebrew by the organization’s Israeli branch, Israeli companies continue to export weapons to countries that systematically violate human rights. Israeli-made weapons are also found in the hands of armies and organizations committing war crimes. The report points to eight such countries that have received arms from Israel in recent years.
Amnesty International staff targeted with malicious spyware
In early June 2018, an Amnesty International staff member received a suspicious WhatsApp message in Arabic. The text contained details about an alleged protest outside the Saudi embassy in Washington D.C., followed by a link to a website. Investigations by Amnesty International’s technology team revealed that clicking the link would have, according to prior knowledge, installed “Pegasus”, a sophisticated surveillance tool developed by the Israel-based company NSO Group.
Amnesty: We Were Targeted With Israeli NSO Cyberweapons
Like many other Israeli startups in the security field, NSO was founded in 2010 by three veterans of the army’s premier signals intelligence unit, 8200: Niv Carmi, Omri Lavie and Shalev Hulio. They started work on Pegasus, which remains NSO’s only product, immediately after founding the company.
Die präzisen Luftangriffe des Westens
Schwere Vorwürfe gegen die Kriegführung der Anti-IS-Koalition erhebt die Menschenrechtsorganisation Amnesty International. Wie Amnesty in einem gestern veröffentlichten Bericht schreibt, sind bei Luftangriffen westlicher Kampfjets im Rahmen der Rückeroberung Raqqas hunderte Zivilisten ums Leben gekommen, weil westliche Militärs es bei der Vorbereitung ihrer Bombardements an der gebotenen Sorgfalt mangeln ließen oder beim Beschuss ziviler Wohngebiete unpräzise Waffen benutzten. Treffen die Vorwürfe zu, dann handelt es sich um Kriegsverbrechen. Entsprechend streitet die Anti-IS-Koalition alles ab und räumt lediglich 24 zivile Todesopfer ein. NGOs können mindestens 1.400 tote Zivilisten in der Schlacht um Raqqa belegen. Die Bundeswehr war mit der Lieferung von Aufklärungsdaten involviert. Ein Beispiel bietet die Bombardierung einer Schule im März 2017, bei der mehr als 30 Zivilisten zu Tode kamen; der Angriff wurde auf der Grundlage deutscher Aufklärungsdaten durchgeführt.
: Amnesty sieht Hinweise auf Kriegsverbrechen durch Anti-IS-Koalition
Ein Jahr nach Beginn der Luft- und Raketenangriffen auf die inoffizielle Hauptstadt der Terrormiliz IS in Syrien hat Amnesty International schwere Vorwürfe gegen die US-geführte Militärkoalition erhoben.
Täter in Uniform
Je brenzliger die Lage, desto lauter der Ruf nach starken Sicherheitsorganen. Doch was, wenn Polizisten selbst zur Gefahr werden? Die Liste der Vorwürfe ist lang: Anschläge auf friedliche Bürger, Misshandlungen in Gewahrsamszellen, sogar Todschlag und Mord im Dienst.
Die Polizeigewerkschaft spricht von bedauerlichen Ausnahmen und schwarzen Schafen. Doch Amnesty International kritisiert strukturelle Polizei-Gewalt in Deutschland schon seit Jahren.
Sicherheitspaket: Amnesty warnt vor fatalen Folgen
(27.3.2018) Die Provider fordern weitere gesetzliche Anpassungen, sollte die Maßnahme beschlossen werden. So sei etwa die Speicherung der Wohnadresse und des akademischen Grades in der Praxis nicht umsetzbar, da für den Betreiber keine Überprüfungsmöglichkeiten bestünden.