"France: criminal complaint against the Israeli company NSO for illegally infiltrating the phone of French-Palestinian human rights defender Salah Hammouri", 5 Apr 2022

The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), the Ligue des droits de l’homme (LDH) and Salah Hammouri filed a joint complaint in France targeting the Israeli cyber intelligence company NSO Group, for illegally infiltrating the phone of French Palestinian human rights defender Salah Hammouri. The violation was initiated in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and continued on French soil, which constitutes a violation of the right to privacy under French law.

...Salah Hammouri contacted Front Line Defenders to initiate an examination of his phone after learning of the infiltration of other Palestinian human rights defenders’ phones.

The investigation revealed that the phones of Mr. Hammouri and other Palestinian human rights defenders were hacked using Pegasus, spyware manufactured by NSO Group.

The investigation confirmed that Mr. Hammouri’s phone has been infiltrated in April 2021. In December 2021, Mr. Hammouri approached FIDH to represent him in filing a legal complaint against NSO Group, which has been using this spyware illegally to hack and infiltrate his phone, and through it, his entire professional and private life, thereby depriving him of his right to privacy among others.

Mr. Hammouri, has been the subject of Israeli persecution since the age of 15...

FIDH and LDH condemn these abusive and arbitrary measures...

NSO Group has been facing several lawsuits around the world for its illegitimate use of technologies in violation of human rights laws and principles. Several NGOs, including FIDH, urged the European Union to put NSO Group on its global sanction list and take all appropriate action to prohibit the sale, transfer, export, import, and use of NSO Group technologies until adequate human rights safeguards are in place...