Left MEPs demand a European inquiry into vast network of spyware used against journalists and activists

In the European Parliament in Strasbourg today it was revealed that David Yambio, human rights defender and co-founder of Refugees in Libya, has been targeted by a spying campaign which seems to have targeted those seen as critical of right-wing governments in Europe. This comes after WhatsApp alleged that the ‘Graphite’ spyware made by the Israeli company Paragon Solutions was used to target 90 WhatsApp users in two dozen countries.

Yambio’s ‘Refugees in Libya’ organisation advocates for a more humane EU migration policy and has vocally opposed the Meloni government’s support for Libyan militias who operate a vast network of prison camps. For years, these camps have been the site of mass rape, torture and murder of migrants and refugees, who are often extorted for money and sold into slavery as revealed in a recent report. Yambio himself endured torture, exploitation and arbitrary detention in Libya.

MEP Mimmo Lucano (Sinistra Italiana, Italy) said: “The Paragon spyware affair is very disturbing and the facts that are emerging paint a frightening picture in which activists and journalists are targeted. It is deeply worrying that governments like in Italy continue to allow those responsible for human rights violations  to go free while activists such as David Yambio are being targeted. The spyware attack against him is a clear example of how accomplices of gross violations are protected, while human rights defenders are controlled and often silenced. It must be clarified immediately who is responsible for such aggressive spying and why. The rule of law and democracy in Europe is at stake.” 

Speaking with journalists also targeted by the spyware, MEP Gaetano Pedullà (Five Star Movement, Italy) said: “The Paragon case is very serious and the EU must investigate it further. We have signed a letter, co-signed by all opposition forces, to the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola calling for the establishment of a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry. The goal is ambitious, but since the new Special Committee on the European Democracy Shield has just started, our MEP Danilo Della Valle will ask, at the first meeting, its President Nathalie Loiseau to open a discussion on state espionage”.

The news comes following the decision of the Meloni government to free Osama Almasri Najim from prison, despite a warrant for his arrest issued by the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity. David Yambio was a witness of Almasri’s crimes in a Libyan detention camp and has been critical of the Italian government’s decision to send Almasri home on a sponsored flight, flouting the arrest warrant.

A press conference with David Yambio and MEPs will take place in Strasbourg today, 11 February, at 15:00 to defend the ICC following actions taken by the Italian and American governments in recent days.