UN rapporteurs give the Government 60 days to report on the espionage with Pegasus and how it will repair those affected

They expose a "very serious concern" for the "extensive espionage" that "appears to be an interference" with the right to assemble peacefully

MADRID, 3 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) -

UN rapporteurs have addressed the Government of Spain, following a complaint by ERC, to request that within 60 days it report on the alleged espionage carried out with the Pegasus system against pro-independence leaders, to explain how it will repair those affected, will punish the guilty and prevent it from happening again.

This has been demanded by three United Nations special rapporteurs on minority issues; the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression and the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, according to the press release issued today by ERC.

This communication responds to the information received by the United Nations and sent from Geneva by the general secretary of Esquerra Republicana, Marta Rovira, on behalf of the Republicans allegedly spied on and in coordination with the rest of the organizations affected by the so-called 'Catalangate'.

In the letter that accompanies the ERC press release, dated October 24, 2022, the three rapporteurs state to the Government that they have received a communication denouncing the alleged espionage through the use of Pegasus and Candiru spyware on a "large number of Catalan personalities and activists during the period 2017-2020".

"The victims of the complex and sophisticated espionage programs included Catalan leaders, members of the European Parliament, legislators, jurists and members of civil society organizations", they specify and recall that this software is sold only to governments, according to its producer ( NSO Group, based in Israel), and infected the electronic devices of at least 65 people with it.

Among those affected they mention Pere Aragonés, the lawyer of Junqueras and Raúl Romeva, Andreu Van den Eynde; Jordi Sánchez, former president of the ANC and Marta Rovira, among others.

After setting out the facts, the rapporteurs express their "very serious concern" for what "is reported as an extensive and well-coordinated espionage program on activists and prominent public figures of the Catalan minority."

In his opinion, this alleged espionage "appears to be an interference with his right to have and freely express his views, exchange and impart information and ideas, to assemble peacefully and participate in associations, to have a private life and privacy in correspondence, and to be equal before the law and entitled to equal protection of the law without any discrimination".

The rapporteurs accompany their writing with an annex in which the "references to international human rights law" are collected. That said, they remember that their mandate is to "try to clarify the allegations" that ERC has presented to them.

To do this, they demand that the Government send them within 60 days: any information on the allegations mentioned in the letter; all available information on official investigations into allegations of espionage; clarifications on the "connections" between espionage and the Spanish authorities; about how Pegasus could have been used against "minority" Spanish citizens if it was "supposedly" sold only to governments.

It also asks that it say how it plans to "remedy" the "possible inconsistencies with international human rights standards" and what the government plans to do to guarantee "reparation for the victims and non-repetition of the espionage activities denounced."

They warn that after those 60 days have elapsed, they will make public both this communication and the response received from the Spanish Government and both will also be available in the usual report that will be presented to the Human Rights Council.

Finally, they demand that the Executive "adopt all necessary measures to protect the rights and freedoms" of the aforementioned persons and investigate, prosecute, and impose appropriate sanctions on any person responsible for the alleged violations. And they demand that effective measures be taken to prevent the events from repeating themselves.

ERC states in its press release that it "will continue to demand" the Government to be transparent about which government entities used Pegasus to spy on, that it assume the pertinent responsibilities and that it guarantee that events like these do not occur again. In addition, it demands that he "repair the victims, as requested by the United Nations."

To this they add that they also hope that this resolution will encourage the Spanish justice system to "stop hindering the course of the complaints filed and carry out an effective investigation of the reported espionage cases."