Bahraini women’s rights activist ‘fears the worst’ after hack

A Bahraini human rights defender feel unsafe using my smartphone” after an investigation revealed that she and a Jordanian women’s rights campaigner had been hacked using NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware.

An investigation led by the human rights group Front Line Defenders (FLD) found that the mobile phones of al-Saegh and Hala Ahed Deeb, a lawyer who works with human rights and feminist groups in Jordan, had been hacked multiple times by countries using NSO Group spyware.

Hala Deeb is part of the legal team defending the Jordan Teachers Syndicate, which the kingdom’s government shut down in July 2020. The teachers’ union, one of Jordan’s largest, remains in conflict with the government and authorities.

Al-Saegh is a human rights defender who has worked for Salam for Democracy and Human Rights, a group that fights for democracy and human rights in Bahrain.