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Malek Helali & QNA
Doha
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) has said it is following with great concern the media reports about the use of Israeli technologies by high-ranking UAE government figures to spy on countries and Qatari government figures by hacking their mobile phones.
In a statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA), a MoFA source said,"This revelation reflects the serious problems the foreign-policy makers in Abu Dhabi are suffering from. It raises several questions about the roots of the ongoing Gulf crisis. They manufactured this crisis to tear down the bonds of brotherly cooperation and fraternity at a time when Gulf people were looking forward to greater integration."
"The current Gulf crisis started with the hacking of the Qatar News Agency and today these media reports indicate that the series of violations pre-date hacking of QNA and are still continuing," he said.
The source condemned any attempts to encroach upon the privacy of individuals and violation of the sovereignty of states with attempts to spy on its officials and calls on the developers of such spywares to demonstrate the minimum moral values and ethics and to abide by international laws.
He said Qatar urges the international community to regulate digital activities so that it does not turn into a breeding ground for espionage.
Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) has deplored the use of espionage programmes against Qatari political figures, human rights activists and journalists.
In a statement on Friday, the NHRC said it is providing necessary legal support to the Qatari victims of the espionage case who have filed lawsuit against the UAE for violating their right to privacy as well as to the harassed human rights activists and journalists.
The NHRC said it received complaints of those affected in this case in March and provided them legal support to lodge cases before competent authorities.
The committee affirmed its continuous pursuit of the perpetrators of such violations in coordination with international lawyers, organisations and mechanisms, including the Special Rapporteur on human rights and the Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression.
The NHRC denounced the attacks by the UAE and its continued violations of the right to privacy by using Israeli espionage programmes.
The NHRC said according to e-mail messages leaked on Thursday Israeli spy company NSO officials in the UAE tried to ascertain the possibility of registration of calls on the phones of political figures as well as media and human rights activists in Qatar."These practices constitute a flagrant violation of the right to privacy and a clear attack on media and human rights activists," the NHRC said.
