03/03/2025 Legal Affairs and Human Rights
In the framework of the preparation of a follow-up report on the PACE resolution on Pegasus and similar spyware and secret state surveillance, the Committee of Legal Affairs and Human Rights organised a hearing on the subject in Paris today.
Participants in the hearing included Iain Cameron, Member of the Venice Commission (Sweden), Rapporteur for “Report on a rule of law and human rights compliant regulation of spyware”; Andreu Van den Eynde, lawyer, Spain; Dušan Pokuševski, Program Director at the Belgrade Center for Human Rights, Serbia; and Milena Berić, Executive Director of the KROKODIL Association, Serbia.
The rapporteur Pieter Omtzigt (Netherlands, EPP/CD) recalled that in October 2023, the Assembly cited mounting evidence that spyware had been used for illegitimate purposes by several Council of Europe member states, and called on five governments (Poland, Hungary, Greece, Spain and Azerbaijan) to provide information on their use of such spyware, and to fully investigate all cases of abuse. The resolution urged states to promptly and fully investigate all cases of abuse of spyware, sanction any they find, and provide redress to victims.
To date, he said, most countries have provided information, but other member states and observer/partner for democracy states (Belgium, Hungary, Morocco and Israel) have not replied to the Assembly’s requests for information. The rapporteur said he will therefore write to them again.
The full video of the hearing can be found here.