A new investigation led by Amnesty International revales that NSO Group, the Israeli company marketing its technology in the fight against COVID-19, contributed to a sustained campaign by the government of Morocco to spy on Moroccan journalist Omar Radi.

According to the rights group, the findings of the latest report are especially significant because Omar Radi was targeted just three days after NSO Group released its human rights policy. These attacks continued after the company became aware of Amnesty International’s first report that provided evidence of the targeted attacks in Morocco. This investigation thus, demonstrates NSO Group’s  failure to conduct adequate human rights due diligence and the inefficacy of its own human rights policy.

Amnesty International has called on NSO Group and the private equity owning  Novalpina Capital to urgently take pro-active steps to ensure that they do not cause or contribute to human rights abuses, and to respond to any human rights abuses when they do occur. In order to meet that responsibility, NSO Group must carry out adequate human rights due diligence and take steps to ensure that HRDs in Morocco do not continue to become targets of unlawful surveillance.

In response to the report, NSO group expressed being troubled by the allegations and mentioned the company will review the information therein as well as  initiate an investigation if warranted.