Friday, 2 December 2022
12.00-14.45 CEST
Grüner Salon, Volksbühne
Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, Berlin
Metro U2

Livestream at YouTube (english)

Outlaw government spyware!

Under the pretext of fighting serious crime and terrorism, a worldwide industry for mercenary spyware has emerged. Governments all over the world, including Member States of the European Union, use it to spy on journalists, opposition politicians, critical prosecutors, lawyers and civil society actors. This became known among other things with Pegasus from the Israeli company NSO Group.

Such espionage likely violates Union law. There is a lack of supervision and control of surveillance technologies, which deeply interfere with democracy, the rule of law and human rights. The European Parliament decided to set up a Committee of Inquiry to investigate the use of Pegasus and equivalent surveillance spyware.

After many hearings, delegations and meetings, the work of the Inquiry Committee will end in the spring of 2023, but the work on the final report is already ongoing. As members of the Inquiry the aim is to make this process as transparent as possible and to be in a constant dialogue with victims and civil society about the regulation of and/or banning of surveillance technologies.

Programme

Moderation: Cannelle Lavite, Berlin, Co-director, Business and Human Rights at European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights

12.00 Introduction by Cornelia Ernst (MEP, Die Linke, Germany), Member of the Pegasus Inquiry Committee & Saskia Bricmont (MEP, Ecolo, Belgium) Member of the Pegasus Inquiry Committee

12.10 – 13.30 Conference Panel
Speakers:
• Aboubakr Jamaï, Aix en Provence, Moroccan journalist in exile attacked with Pegasus
• Carine Kanimba, Brussels, daughter of Rwandan activist Paul Rusesabagina who was attacked with Pegasus
• Hannes Munzinger, Munich, Paper Trail Media/ Spiegel, Investigative Reporter and part of the Pegasus Project
• Natalia Krapiva, Tech Legal Counsel, Access Now, strategically engages legal processes to defend users at risk from Pegasus

13.30 – 13.45 Break

13.45 – 14.30 Open Debate

14.30 Conclusion and closing remarks: Saskia Bricmont & Cornelia Ernst

14.45 Coffee and Snacks/ Networking

The meeting will be hybrid, with the possibility of physical presence and audience in the room. We will share the link for participating virtually at a later stage.