Hyderabad: Amnesty International in a statement issued today has clarified its stance on the Pegasus spyware row, declaring its support for the Pegasus Project and its findings. The organisation was prompted to put out a statement after certain sections of media and social media reported that the organisation had denied calling the list revealed by the Pegasus Project as one linked to the NSO group.
"Amnesty International categorically stands by the findings of the Pegasus Project, and that the data is irrefutably linked to potential targets of NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware," the statement by the organisation said.
Several governments across the globe have received sharp criticism both at home and abroad over immoral and potentially illegal methods to keep tabs on political opponents, journalists and social activists. "The false rumours being pushed on social media are intended to distract from the widespread unlawful targeting of journalists, activists and others that the Pegasus Project has revealed," Amnesty asserted in its statement.
Earlier this week, Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnes Callamard said, "We have long known that activists and journalists are targets of this surreptitious phone-hacking – but it’s clear that even those at the highest levels of power cannot escape the sinister spread of NSO’s spyware. NSO Group can no longer hide behind the claim that its spyware is only used to fight crime – it appears that Pegasus is also the spyware of choice for those wanting to snoop on foreign governments."
Also read: Amnesty's Hebrew statement on NSO and Pegasus gets lost in translation
After the stunning revelations of politicians and journalist's phones being hacked even in India, many political leaders including Assam Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma demanded a ban on human rights body Amnesty International’s activities in India for its role in the Pegasus controversy.
Controversy erupted on Wednesday after reports emerged in some sections of Israeli media claiming that Amnesty in a statement had denied the claims that it ever called the list of 50,000 phone numbers of political leaders, journalists and social activists, accessed and reported by media outlets, as "NSO's Pegasus Spyware List".
The statement issued by Amnesty International Israel in Hebrew was apparently misrepresented and wrongly translated in English, according to Gil Naveh, spokesperson of Amnesty International Israel. Naveh made the statement to a media organisation in India, which is part of the Pegasus Project.
