Étiquette : Morocco

  • Morocco spied on a meeting of Ban Ki-moon with Idriss Déby

    Morocco, UN, Ban Ki-moon, Tchad, Idriss Déby, MINUSMA, Mali, RCA, République Centrafricaine, MINUSCA,

    Morocco received an email containing the minutes of the UN Secretary General’s meeting with Chadian President Idriss Déby Itno. The confidential mail was sent by a certain Isam Taib, of the Africa II Division, DPA.

    Among the secrets revealed by French hacker Chris Coleman is also a document containing language elements that the UN chief should raise in this meeting

    Here is the full text of the mail as well as the document hacked by the Moroccan secret services.

    Chad
    I T [izmtyb@gmail.com]
    Date d’envoi : vendredi 26 septembre 2014 18:30
    meeting with H.E. Mr. Idriss Déby Itno,
    President of the Republic of Chad,
    Held at United Nations Headquarters
    On 23 September 2014 at 18:15 pm

    Present:

    The Secretary-General
    H.E. Mr. Idriss Déby Itno,
    Ms. Malcorra
    Mr. Ladsous
    Mr. Koenders
    President of the Republic of Chad
    H.E. Mr. Moussa Faki Mahamat,
    Minister of Foreign Affairs of Chad
    Mr. Abdelaziz
    Mr. Zerihoun
    Ms. Guebre Selassie
    Ms. Rubira
    Mr. Taib (Note taker)
    H.E. Mr. Gali Ngote Koutou,
    Minister, Director of Cabinet of the President
    H.E. Mr. Cherif Mahamat Zene,
    Permanent Representative of Chad to the United Nations
    Mr. Ahmat Abdrahman Haggar, Diplomatic Adviser of the President

    Key points raised:

    The Secretary-General reiterated his condolences for the recent loss of Chadian peacekeepers in northern Mali and commended Chad for its important contribution to the United Nations Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). He reassured Chad that their concerns would be addressed and encouraged Chad to continue supporting stabilization efforts in Mali. President Déby Itno reiterated Chad’s full commitment to continue supporting stabilization efforts in Mali and called on the United Nations to do more to address their concerns in relation to the conditions of their troops in northern Mali.

    The Secretary-General expressed concern over the threat posed by terrorism and sought President Déby Itno’s assessment of the situation in north-eastern Nigeria. President Déby Itno expressed serious concern over the threat posed by Boko Haram and stressed the need to implement the United Nations Integrated Strategy for the Sahel to combat the spread of this phenomenon.

    The Secretary-General commended Chad for its active contribution, as Chair of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) and member of the Security Council, to resolve the ongoing crisis in the Central African Republic (CAR). He encouraged Chad to continue to support stabilization efforts in CAR and to cooperate with the United Nations Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA). President Déby Itno highlighted that Chad would continue to support stabilization efforts in the Car and indicated that the deployment of Chadian soldiers to the country was not an option.

    President Déby Itno raised serious concern over the situation in Libya.

    Summary of Discussion

    1. The Secretary-General reiterated his sincere condolences for the recent loss of Chadian peacekeepers in northern Mali. He indicated that Chad had shown courageous leadership and set a strong example for peace and security in the region through its important contribution to the United Nations Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). He expressed the UN’s appreciation for the excellent performance of Chadian soldiers within MINUSMA and commended Chad for its role in support of the Malian peace process. He underlined that the UN was determined to provide support to the Chadian contingent by improving the situation in their bases and through the provision of additional equipment. He informed the Chadian delegation that the United Nations is exploring options to increase the number of armored vehicles, pre-deployment training and collaboration with the French operation “Barkhane”. He announced that the UN would dispatch a high-level delegation to N’Djamena, Chad, to discuss these issues.

    2. President Idriss Déby Itno indicated that, while Chad was shocked by the recent killing of its soldiers, it would remain committed to pursue its cooperation with the United Nations. He deplored the “very bad” management of Chadian peacekeepers located in the most volatile and difficult regions of the north of Mali (Aguelhok, Tessalit and Kidal). He called on the UN to improve the living conditions of Chadian soldiers and to take necessary measures to enhance their protection. He suggested that a rotation of troops within MINUSMA be established to allow Chadian peacekeepers to be regularly redeployed out of this “hardship zone”. President Déby Itno insisted on the need to implement the United Nations Integrated Strategy for the Sahel to tackle the spread of terrorism and to prevent further recruitment by these groups. He indicated that the promises made by the World Bank and the UN to the people of the region needed to materialize.

    3. The Secretary-General encouraged President Déby Itno to work with national stakeholders to ensure that progress achieved in peace consolidation is further strengthened in the country.

    4. The Secretary-General expressed concern about the threat posed by Boko Haram and sought Chad’s views on the situation in north-eastern Nigeria and its impact on peace and stability in the region.

    5. President Déby Itno indicated that he was very pessimistic about the situation in north-eastern Nigeria, adding that the Nigerian army did not have the means to contain Boko Haram. He was very concerned with Boko Haram’s new tactics of conquering territories, expanding its activities into Cameroon, and increasing recruitment. He also expressed serious concern about Boko Haram’s allegiance to the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

    6. The Secretary-General commended Chad for its active contribution, as Chair of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) and member of the Security Council, to resolve the ongoing crisis in CAR. He also welcomed the initial role played by Chadian soldiers to stabilize CAR and invited Chad to continue to cooperate and render support to stabilization efforts in CAR.

    7. President Déby Itno welcomed the launch of MINUSCA’s operations and stated that the recent resumption of economic activity in Bangui was a good sign. He regretted that the Government had little influence beyond Bangui and indicated that more dialogue was needed. He warned against pushing for elections in the CAR and stressed the need to support the ongoing transition, including financially, to allow for the expansion of state authority throughout CAR. Concerning the anti-Balaka, he mentioned the need to confine these groups to barracks and to begin DDR operations as soon as possible. He indicated that the deployment of Chadian soldiers to CAR was not an option, adding that Chadian public opinion was adamantly against it. He added that Chad was however ready to support CAR, including through the training of its soldiers and officials.

    8. resident Déby Itno expressed serious concern over the ongoing situation in Libya.

    Follow up action: none

    Isam Taib
    Africa II Division, DPA



    Source : Marocleaks, 04/10/2022

    #Morocco #UN #Tchad #Idriss_Déby_Itno #CEEAC #Mali #MINUSMA #RCA #MINUSCA

  • Morocco used Hacking Team to spy on the UN

    Morocco, UNO, Ban Ki-moon, DPKO, Pegasus, Idriss Déby, Tchad, Algeria, Ramtane Lamamra,

    Before the Israeli Pegasus, Morocco used the computer control software of the private company Hacking Team to spy on the activities of the UN Secretariat General, related to the Western Sahara issue. According to confidential documents, Morocco is the third largest client of this Italian company and has paid more than 3 million euros to Hacking Team. Including 1.19 million euros for the Moroccan DST, 1.93 million euros for the CSDN (Supreme Council of Defense, chaired by Mohammed VI).

    These serious revelations come from 400 gigabytes of information extracted from the website of the company Hacking Team and published by anonymous hackers. The Milan-based company sells spyware for hundreds of thousands of euros to countries and security services that flout virtual ethics, including Morocco. Several confidential documents of the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) stolen by the Moroccan services have been revealed by the hacker who acts under the pseudonym of Chris Coleman.

    Other documents seem to emanate from other services dependent on the UN General Secretariat. Among these documents, the minutes of meetings of the UN Secretary General with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ramtan Lamamra, and with the Chadian President, Idriss Déby. Morocco had set up three monitoring points. In Rabat, with massive surveillance tools from the French company Amesys (Bull-France). In Casablanca and Tangier, with offensive security tools from Hacking Team and Vupen (France) respectively.

    According to the NGO, Reporters Without Borders, Hacking Team’s software was identified on the computers of the offices of the Moroccan news website Mamfakinch, a few days after this media had received the Breaking Borders Award 2012 by Global Voices and Google. Malware had been deployed there, via a Word document, which claimed to contain important confidential information.

    Shortly thereafter, the electronic site « Algérie Patriotique » published two confidential documents fraudulently stolen by Morocco to learn about Algeria’s intentions. These are the minutes of meetings between the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ramtane Lamamra, and the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon.

    Let us note in passing that the content of these talks proves that Algeria has no double talk and does not plot against anyone. Algeria’s only concern is peace in the region. So why does the Makhzen want to spy on its neighbor?

    It is an established fact that Algeria’s diplomatic activities prevent the Makhzen’s people from getting any sleep. Algeria is active internationally and particularly on issues affecting the region facing a major destabilization operation, including through armed conflict in Libya, a situation conducive to the development of terrorist groups, which has had an extension in Mali and a dramatic impact also in Tunisia, as evidenced by the recent attack in Sousse.

    This does not please the Moroccan leaders who are doing everything to sabotage the Algiers roadmap on Mali and efforts to bring the conflicting parties in Libya together. The Makhzen is enraged every time Algeria makes progress in this direction. And even more so, when Algeria’s foreign partners give it the thumbs up.

    « Algeria plays a key role in the peace process in Mali. I welcome the collaboration of Algeria, Mali’s neighbors, regional organizations and my Special Representative in developing a roadmap in Algiers. It is essential that all relevant actors continue to work together to support the political process, » noted UN SG Ban Ki-moon in the PV hacked by the Makhzen.

    Regarding Libya, the UN Secretary General wrote: « I encourage Algeria to support the efforts of my new Special Representative, Bernardino León, to reach a comprehensive agreement on the future of the transition in Libya.

    The site Privacy International addresses the issue in the following post:

    Facing the Truth: Hacking Team leak confirms Moroccan government use of spyware

    On July 6th, the company Hacking Team was hacked: over 400GB of administrative documents, source code and emails are now available for download.

    Documents from the hack confirm once again the claims made in our report Their Eyes on Me, the Moroccan intelligence services made use of Hacking Team’s spyware ‘Remote Control System’ to target those whom they perceive as their opponents. The documents show the two intelligence agencies in the country have been renewing their contracts and are currently still using the piece of spyware. Over the past six years Morocco has spent more than €3 million on Hacking Team equipment.

    Among the documents, a client list showed that the two Moroccan intelligence agencies – the High Council for National Defence (CSDN) and the Directory of Territorial Surveillance (DST) – have both purchased Remote Control System. The CSDN first acquired it back in 2009 and the DST obtained it in 2012.

    In total Morocco spent €3,173,550 to purchase the licenses and maintain the product. In 2015 alone, the CSDN spent €140,000 and the DST €80,000 for spyware that can reach respectively up to 300 and 2,000 targeted devices.

    The contracts were both signed through Al Fahad Smart Systems, an Emirati company that acts as an intermediary for government and private companies seeking to purchase “security services”.

    The documents also reveal that the Moroccan Gendarmerie was listed as an “opportunity” for 2015 and expected to obtain €487,000 from them.

    The documents arrived two months after the Moroccan government threatened members of Moroccan civil society with a lawsuit following the publication in Morocco of the Privacy International report ‘Their Eyes on Me’. The report was a series of testimonies of activists who had been targeted by Hacking Team spyware.

    In a press release relayed by the press agency MAP, the Government said they had “filed a lawsuit against some people who prepared and distributed a report which includes serious accusations of spying by its services”. And they added that “(the) ministry has asked for an investigation to identify people behind such accusations to try them by the competent court ».

    The staff of our partner organisation in Morocco reported that their neighbours and family members were interrogated by the police following the announcement.

    All the claims stated in the report were in fact backed by research from the Citizen Lab, an interdisciplinary research group affiliated to the University of Toronto. Back in 2012, they had identified the use of Remote Control System against Mamfakinch, a collective of citizen journalists, whose stories are documented in our report.

    Emails from Hacking Team employees, spotted by The Intercept, reveal that their opinion of the Moroccan government had remained untainted. David Vincenzetti, the CEO of Hacking Team, wrote to his colleagues in a recent email: “The King of Morocco is a benevolent monarch. Morocco is actually the most pro-Western Arab country, national security initiatives are solely needed in order to tighten stability.”

    Those revelations are, however, yet more evidence that the reality of the Moroccan regime is very different from the public image the Government likes to spread. Far from a liberal Kingdom led by a benevolent monarch, Morocco is in fact yet another regime that has been caught red-handed using highly invasive technology to spy on journalists and pro-democracy activists. And when their wrongdoing is exposed, the government attempts to discredit the solid work of independent researchers and to silence local activists.

    #Morocco #Hacking_team #Pegasus #UN #Ban_ki_moon #Idriss_Déby #Tchad

  • What may fish do for Western Sahara?

    Legal advice stating that European vessels have no justification to fish off Western Sahara – a territory occupied by Morocco – has provoked a row between the main political institutions in Brussels.

    Under the terms of a 2005 fishing agreement between the European Union (EU) and Morocco, boats may operate in Western Sahara, provided their activity benefits the indigenous Sahrawi people. But a new paper written by lawyers advising the European Parliament has found that there is no evidence of Sahrawis being aided due to the accord’s implementation, which began in 2007.

    The paper advocates that efforts should be made to find an “amicable settlement” under which the Sahrawis can actually derive benefits from the agreement. But if no such settlement is forthcoming, it urges that European boats should be forbidden from entering a 200 nautical mile zone off Western Sahara.

    Despite these findings, the EU’s executive arm, the European Commission, is refusing to concede that the agreement has been problematic. An EU fisheries official said the Commission is “convinced” the deal is “indirectly and directly benefiting the Western Sahara region.”

    “The agreement ensures that the activity of EU vessels takes place in a transparent and controlled environment and has facilitated EU investments in the region,” the official, who request anonymity, told IPS. “The EU fleet lands part of its catches in Morocco, including ports in Western Sahara, which has a positive impact on the local economy. The FPA (fisheries partnership agreement) is therefore making a positive contribution to the economy of Western Sahara and the livelihood of its inhabitants.”

    Morocco, which invaded Western Sahara after its former Spanish colonisers quit the territory in 1974, is to receive a total of 144 million euros (196 million dollars) as a result of the four-year fisheries agreement. According to the Parliament’s legal advice, the agreement “explicitly acknowledges that the Moroccan authorities have full discretion” about how the money it receives is spent, even though the accord officially aims to promote ”responsible and sustainable” fishing practices.

    Aicha Dahane, a Sahrawi refugee living in Britain, said that nobody she knew in Western Sahara had been consulted in any way when the agreement was being negotiated. Nor was she aware of any Sahrawi who had found employment due to the accord’s implementation.

    She accused the EU, too, of having skewed priorities as it gives only 10 million euros per year in humanitarian aid to Sahrawis in refugee camps in Algeria, to where 100,000 people – half of Western Sahara’s population – fled in the 1970s. “The EU pays more money to Morocco for fish than it does to our refugees in Algeria,” she protested.

    The EU’s approach to Western Sahara contrasts markedly to that taken by the U.S., which excluded the disputed territory from a 2004 trade agreement between it and Morocco. In its attempts to justify the extension of its fishing agreement to Western Sahara, the European Commission argued that doing so would be in accordance with a 2002 United Nations legal opinion. But Hans Correll, the author of that opinion, stated six years later that he was ”embarrassed as a European” that his arguments had been interpreted in this way. Correll insisted that the EU could only fish off Western Sahara if it had been granted permission by the territory’s people.

    Sara Eyckmans, a campaigner with the group Western Sahara Resource Watch, said the European Commission had so far produced “not one shred of evidence” to support its claims that the Sahrawis were being aided by the agreement. “This is disappointing and shocking for us,” she added.

    She argued, too, that the accord violated the international law of the sea, which states that fishing cannot take place in waters that have not been claimed by a particular country. While Morocco has made a claim to the territory of Western Sahara, it has not asserted its jurisdiction over the surrounding waters.

    The Parliament’s lawyers state that Western Sahara is to be considered a ”non-self-governing territory”. International law requires that the wishes of a local population of such a territory must be respected when their natural resources are exploited for economic gain, the lawyers say.

    Morocco’s occupation of Western Sahara has been contested by numerous resolutions of the United Nations. A 1975 verdict by the International Court of Justice also found that Morocco did not have any legitimate claim over the territory.

    A political process aimed at determining the future of Western Sahara has been at an impasse for many years. In 1991, the UN brokered a ceasefire to end the armed conflict between Morocco and the Polisario Front, the representatives of the Sahrawi people, which erupted in 1976. While a referendum on the constitutional status of Western Sahara was promised in the 1990s, Morocco has so far prevented the poll from taking place.  (IPS)