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Category: Repression

Presence of Over 60 Women in Leaked List Highlights ‘Bodily Violation’ Posed by Spyware

Presence of Over 60 Women in Leaked List Highlights ‘Bodily Violation’ Posed by Spyware

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

The telephone numbers of more than 60 women – homemakers, lawyers and school teachers, journalists, scientists, civil servants and even friends of politicians – figure in the leaked database of probable surveillance targets selected by an Indian agency that uses Pegasus spyware, a count by The Wire has established.
The names of some of these women have already been published in earlier stories; the identities of others have been withheld at their request.
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Also read: Leaked Data Shows Surveillance Net in Elgar Parishad Case May Have Crossed a Line (The Wire, July 18, 2021)

Protest to seek justice for Stan Swamy / Remembering the revolutionary who challenged everything

Protest to seek justice for Stan Swamy / Remembering the revolutionary who challenged everything

Ranchi, July 23

Pan India agitations protesting ‘institutional murder’ of Fr Stan

24/07/2021

The Telegraph / by Animesh Bisoee

The protests are part of a series of public observances called by rights groups, trade unions, Christian organisations, Left parties and their student and youth wings
Human rights activists, civil society groups, mass organisations and trade union members staged agitations in Jharkhand, Delhi and other parts of the country on Friday in protest against the “institutional murder” of Father Stan Swamy.
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Delhi, July 23

Kolkata, July 23

In Jharkhand, Stan Swamy’s Friends and Colleagues Vow to Keep His Fight Alive

22/07/2021

The Wire / by Santosh K. Kiro

A fortnight after tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy’s death, his friends and those he worked were are still in mourning – and also determined to take forward his work.
On July 18, Swamy’s name was engraved on a stone in Bagaicha, the centre he had developed in Ranchi two decades ago to fight for the tribal cause. Every other day, different tribal communities from across Jharkhand are arranging meetings to pay tribute to the activist.
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OPEN NATIONAL CALL: DEFEND RIGHT TO DISSENT

July 2021

Issued by several organizations across the country

Join National Action to Defend Democracy:
Defend Right to Dissent,
Repeal Sedition Law,
UAPA and Repressive State Laws,
Restore Right to Bail

Dear Friends,
The Institutional murder of the 84-year-old Jesuit priest Father Stan Swamy in judicial custody on 5th July 2021 has brought home to all of us the urgency of the need to take up the defence of democracy against repressive laws.
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Remembering Stan Swamy, the revolutionary who challenged everything – including the Church

21/07/2021

Scroll.in / by Jyoti Bahen Urumpil, The India Forum

He was a fiery, ruthless messiah for the oppressed and exploited.
Stan Swamy’s mortal remains have been placed reverently with proper dedication. We all know that his spirit and commitment will live forever in the whole world. Swamy was gifted with a good intellect and a warm, tender heart that could almost burst out of anger for justice.
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136 Names Revealed On Snoop List So Far / Indian activists jailed on terrorism charges were on list

136 Names Revealed On Snoop List So Far / Indian activists jailed on terrorism charges were on list

136 Names Revealed By The Wire On Snoop List So Far

23/07/2021

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

Over the past few days, The Wire – in collaboration with 16 other media organisations – has been revealing the names of people who were either persons of interest or forensically identified as having been targeted by clients of the NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware.
Those on the list include heads of state, political figures, activists, students, lawyers and journalists, among others.
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Pegasus exposé raises unjust detention cry

20/07/2021

The Telegraph / by Pheroze L. Vincent

The leaked database showed that the mobile numbers of several accused were on a list of those selected for surveillance by an unidentified client of NSO.
The families of the Elgaar Parishad-Maoist links detainees and one of their lawyers have said the new revelations about targeted surveillance have vindicated their stand that the prolonged imprisonment of the 15 surviving accused is unjust.
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From Ambedkarites and Labour Activists to Umar Khalid and JNU Students, Snoop List Targets All

20/07/2021

The Wire / by Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta, Sukanya Shantha and Kabir Agarwal

Leaked list of potential surveillance targets indicates attempt to keep tabs on critics of government policy.
The telephone numbers of an anti-caste leader and several prominent activists are part of a leaked database accessed by the Pegasus Project which includes individuals confirmed to have been targeted with the Israel based NSO group’s spyware.
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Indian activists jailed on terrorism charges were on list with surveillance targets

20/07/2021

The Washington Post / by Joanna Slater and Niha Masih

The Bhima Koregaon activists were also victims of an unidentified hacker who planted evidence on their computers, recent reports found.
When the Indian authorities began arresting lawyers and human rights activists in 2018, Sudha Bharadwaj did what she had done for more than three decades wherever she saw injustice. She organized. She spoke out. She asked courts to uphold the law.
Later that year, the police arrested her, too.
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Cops used Pegasus in Koregaon Bhima case, says Digvijaya Singh

20/07/2021

Times of India / by Suchandana Gupta

Congress Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh on Monday told TOI TOI that Pegasus was used by police in the Koregaon Bhima case, and even his name had surfaced, but he couldn’t be implicated because he had stopped using the phone that was mentioned in the ‘Naxalite letter’.
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Phones of ministers, journalists, lawyers and activists tapped by Pegasus spyware. Indians should worry

19/07/2021

The Leaflet / by Ramesh Menon

In the days ahead, we will know more about the investigations as they will be released in parts. Clearly, there is going to be a stormy monsoon session in Parliament as opposition members will question the government’s role in the snooping scandal. These revelations, if true, bode dangerously for the health of our democracy, writes Ramesh Menon as he recaps what we know about the Pegasus hacking allegations so far.
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Parliament panel to hold meeting on data security / Shah alleged report was released to cause disruption

Parliament panel to hold meeting on data security / Shah alleged report was released to cause disruption

Parliament panel to hold meeting on data security and privacy on July 28

21/07/2021

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology will question officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology on July 28 in connection with reports about the illegal surveillance using Pegasus spyware, ANI reported.
… In November 2019, BJP MPs opposed when the standing committee wanted to discuss the matter, according to The Hindu. In a later meeting, the panel met 17 individuals representing a platform called the “Pegasus Targeted Persons”. They included human rights activist Bela Bhatia, Dalit activist and Bhima Koregaon case accused Anand Teltumbde, Jagdalpur Legal Aid group member Shalini Gera, Chattisgarh-based civil rights activist Alok Shukla and human rights activist Jagdish Meshram.
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Report on Pegasus ‘by the disrupters for the obstructers’, says Home Minister Amit Shah

19/07/2021

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday dismissed an investigation pointing to the use of the Pegasus hacking software to spy on journalists, activists and Opposition leaders in India, calling it “a report by the disrupters for the obstructers”.
… On Sunday, The Wire revealed the names of dozens of journalists and activists on the list, including its own founder-editors Siddharth Vardarajan and MK Venu, The Hindu’s Vijaita Singh, the Hindustan Times’ Shishir Gupta, as well as scholars and activists on the Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners and relatives, lawyers and friends of those arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case and the accused themselves.
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Leaked Data Shows Surveillance Net in Elgar Parishad Case May Have Crossed a Line

Leaked Data Shows Surveillance Net in Elgar Parishad Case May Have Crossed a Line

Leaked Data Shows Surveillance Net in Elgar Parishad Case May Have Crossed a Line

18/07/2021

The Wire / Sukanya Shantha

The families of activists figure on a leaked list of numbers that included some selected for surveillance by a client of Israel’s NSO Group.
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Government Cites Old RTI Response To Deny Pegasus Link, Says Media Didn’t Do Due Diligence

18/07/2021

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

The ministry of electronics and information technology pointed to a response to an RTI from October 2019 in which the home ministry did not deny or confirm purchasing the Pegasus spyware.
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Forensic Methodology Report: How to catch NSO Group’s Pegasus

18/07/2021

By Amnesty International

NSO Group claims that its Pegasus spyware is only used to “investigate terrorism and crime”  and “leaves no traces whatsoever”. This Forensic Methodology Report shows that neither of these statements are true. This report accompanies the release of the Pegasus Project, a collaborative investigation that involves more than 80 journalists from 17 media organizations in 10 countries coordinated by Forbidden Stories with technical support of Amnesty International’s Security Lab.
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Stan Swamy was ‘killed’, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut attacks Modi govt / Stan, UAPA and the Performative Solidarity of Politicians

Stan Swamy was ‘killed’, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut attacks Modi govt / Stan, UAPA and the Performative Solidarity of Politicians


Drawing by Arun Freirra

Stan Swamy was ‘killed’, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut attacks Modi govt over activist’s death

11/07/2021

The Indian Express / by Vishwas Waghmode

A government that is scared of an 84-year-old man is dictatorial in attitude but weak in the heart like Hitler’s and Mussolini’s, said Raut in his weekly column in party mouthpiece Saamana.
Hitting out at the Union government over the death of Father Stan Swamy, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday said the tribal-rights activist was “killed” in jail. The Sena MP further asked whether the country’s foundations were so weak that an 84-year-old man could overthrow the Narendra Modi government, equating it with the ones of Hitler and Mussolini.
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Shiv Sena asks Centre if Father Stan Swamy was capable of overthrowing state

11/07/2021

Hindustan Times / by Naresh Kamath

Raut said that while the prominent activists arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case were guilty of provocative speeches before the violence on January 2, it required investigation to prove if they were actually conspiring against the nation.
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Father Stan, UAPA and the Performative Solidarity of Politicians

10/07/2021

The Wire / by Farah Naqvi

For politicians expressing anguish and outrage in this moment of injustice, the best tribute would be to do what Fr. Stan Swamy did his entire life.
“Stan Smith (84) passes away. The system sucks. UAPA. No bail. Little hope of early trial. Others too languish in jail. Lawyers , Academics , Social Activists ….raise their voices for the voiceless. They too are now “voiceless”. The State calls them “ terrorists,” Kapil Sibal, Congress MP, tweeted on July 5, 2021.
Sibal got the name wrong. And he forgot to say sorry. For this casual disrespect to a martyr for democracy, even before dust had settled on his grave. He also forgot to say sorry for his own role in giving India the dark gift of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) that finally killed Fr. Stan Swamy. The gift that keeps on giving.
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His Death is Just a Statistic for Them: Anand Grover

10/07/2021

The Citizen / by The Citizen Bureau

‘In other countries if one is wrongly prosecuted they can sue the police or the government’
Senior advocate Anand Grover has represented poet Varavara Rao and professor Shoma Sen imprisoned without trial since 2018 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in charges including a police-alleged plot to assassinate PM Narendra Modi.

Your reaction to Stan Swamy’s death?
It is a failure of the whole criminal justice system.
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New online platform maps Pegasus spread / New investigation shows global human rights harm of NSO Group’s spyware

New online platform maps Pegasus spread / New investigation shows global human rights harm of NSO Group’s spyware

New online platform maps Pegasus spread

07/07/2021

The Hindu / by Special Correspondent

It was launched by the Forensic Architecture, the Amnesty International and the Citizen Lab to document attacks against human rights defenders.
An online database about the use of the spyware Pegasus was recently launched by the Forensic Architecture, the Amnesty International and the Citizen Lab to document attacks against human rights defenders.
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New investigation shows global human rights harm of NSO Group’s spyware

03/07/2021

Amnesty International / by Amnesty International

A new interactive online platform by Forensic Architecture, supported by Amnesty International and the Citizen Lab, maps for the first time the global spread of the notorious spyware Pegasus, made by cyber-surveillance company NSO Group.
‘Digital Violence: How the NSO Group Enables State Terror’ documents digital attacks against human rights defenders around the world, and shows the connections between the ‘digital violence’ of Pegasus spyware and the real-world harms lawyers, activists, and other civil society figures face.
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10 BK undertrials hold hunger strike / Statement by family members and friends of the BK16

10 BK undertrials hold hunger strike / Statement by family members and friends of the BK16

10 Bhima Koregaon case accused demand judicial inquiry into Stan Swamy’s death, hold hunger strike

07/07/2021

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

They blamed the National Investigation Agency and Taloja Jail’s former superintendent for the death of the tribal rights activist.
Ten accused in the Bhima Koregaon case on Wednesday went on a day-long hunger strike to protest against the “institutional murder” of tribal rights activist Stan Swamy, reported PTI. They also demanded a judicial inquiry into the activist’s death.
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Statement by family members and friends of the BK16:
The Institutional Murder of Fr. Stan Swamy

06/07/2021

By family members and friends of the BK16

We, the friends and family members of those accused in the Bhima Koregaon Conspiracy case, are deeply pained and shaken to the core by the loss of Father Stan Swamy.  This is not a natural death, but the institutional murder of a gentle soul, committed by an inhuman state.  Having spent his life amongst the Adivasis in Jharkhand, fighting for their right to resources and lands, Father Stan did not deserve to die in this manner, far from his beloved Jharkhand, falsely imprisoned by a vindictive state. …

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There is freedom, but no mercy

There is freedom, but no mercy

The Indian Express / by T J S George

People are getting arrested as in the days of Indira Gandhi’s Emergency.
Freedom is a funny thing. When it is there, we don’t notice it. When it is not there, we don’t notice anything else. In a country as populous as India, half the people can take their freedom for granted without knowing that the other half is denied basic freedoms. This half-half reality is the defining feature of Narendra Modiji’s India.
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