Morocco PM says Amnesty has failed to provide proof of its accusations

RABAT – Morocco’s Prime Minister Saad Dine El Otmani said Friday that the reply of acting Secretary General of Amnesty International (AI), Julie Verhaar, did not provide tangible evidence that the Moroccan government has been demanding from the human rights organisation since the publication of its report that accused Rabat of hacking a journalist Omar Radi’s phone.

“We, in the Moroccan government, are still insisting on providing us with a copy of the report of scientific expertise that was adopted to make these unfounded accusations, or publishing it to the public, instead of issuing a report full of expressions referring to hypotheses that contradict the standards of scientific expertise, which makes of the judgments contained in the report, in the form of assertion, mere expressions that lack any scientific basis to prove the association of the supposed breaches of specific phones in Morocco,” Otmani told state news agency MAP.

“Morocco, which has adopted in this issue a responsible, logical and transparent approach with AI that is based on arguments and scientific evidence, remains open to constructive dialogue that requires from Amnesty International presenting tangible evidence of its allegations or review its position as an indication of goodwill to rebuild trust, which is essential to ensure the success of any dialogue,” said Otmani.

Otmani said he had received on Thursday a letter from Verhaar in response to "our letter which was sent to her on July 1st, 2020, in which we request to provide us with evidences for the accusations and allegations contained in the organization's report issued on June 22, 2020."

Amnesty published on June 22 a report alleging that Radi’s mobile phone was subjected to several attacks using a "sophisticated new technique" that silently installed Israeli cyber company NSO's Pegasus spyware, a claim that Moroccan authorities vehemently dismissed as “baseless.”

The Moroccan government rejected the accusations and asked the London-based human rights group to back its allegations with scientific proof.

Amnesty, which has so far failed to provide evidence to the Moroccan government, said it remained concerned about the authorities’ use of NSO spyware in Morocco against human rights defenders and journalists and reiterated its recommendation to respect the right to privacy and to freedom of expression.

But the Moroccan government swiftly reiterated its rejection of Amnesty’s renewed baseless accusations which Rabat said reflected Amnesty’s involvement and systematic prejudice against the North African country and the underestimation of its human rights progress.

Rabat said that it would take the necessary measures to defend its national security to enlighten both the domestic and international public opinion regarding these rejected fallacies.