Salvadoran NGO Appeals Refusal to Investigate Use of Public Funds for Pegasus

San Salvador, 21 Mar The humanitarian organization Cristosal appealed Monday to the Court of Accounts of the Republic (CCR) the decision not to investigate the possible use of state funds in the purchase of Pegasus spying software. Amnesty International (AI) reported in January that a joint investigation by Access Now and Citizen Lab organizations “identified the large-scale use of NSO Group's Pegasus spy program against journalists and members of civil society organizations in El Salvador.” Ruth López, head of Anti-Corruption and Justice of the Cristosal organization, told the press that “the CCR would have to investigate whether public funds were expended for the acquisition” of the program. “We consider that the resolution issued does not conform to what is established by law and in the Constitution,” since the CCR “has the obligation to verify the use of public funds,” said the lawyer. Last week, López explained to Efe that the CCR declared itself “not competent to hear what has been reported” to investigate the allegations made by Cristosal. “It is unacceptable that the CCR refrains from knowing its oversight role in determining the alleged government purchase of software that is only sold to state actors,” Lopez said. A representative of the Attorney General's Office (FGR) said Thursday to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) that “a thorough investigation into the use of the Pegasus program to intervene telephone information is currently under way.” He added that the efforts carried out have not been able to determine “the existence and origin of the activities mentioned”. In a complaint to the Court of Auditors in February, Cristosal requested that the possible use of state funds for the espionage of journalists and human rights defenders be investigated through the Pegasus program. On that occasion, he called for “a special review of the use of public funds” of the State Intelligence Agency (OIE), the Ministry of Security, the Presidency of the Republic and the Ministry of Defence. The Citizen Lab report says it succeeded in confirming “35 cases of journalists and civil society members whose phones were successfully infected with NSO's Pegasus spyware between July 2020 and November 2021.” CHIEF hs/sat/lll