Human rights group accuses Bahrain govt. of surveillance

TEHRAN, Aug. 19 (MNA) – Bahrain Center for Human Rights expressed concern for violation of privacy rights of civilians in Bahrain. In a statement released on Monday, BCHR states that new evidence indicate ‘systematic surveillance practices’ by government of Bahrain. “Activists and human rights defenders in Bahrain have been the target of technological surveillance by Bahraini officials with the help of the FinFisher software, ‘FinSpy’, provided by the UK-German company Gamma Group International.” BCHR statement refers to a recent Bahrain Watch group report which provided evidence proving the company had contracts with Bahrain government to spy on a number of human rights lawyers, activists and journalists in Bahrain and abroad. Gamma Group introduces its FinFisher as a spyware “used to access target systems, giving full access to stored information with the ability to take control of the target system’s functions to the point of capturing encrypted data and communications.” Bahrain Center for Human Rights has expressed concern that the technology can enable the government to “remotely monitor all activity on a computer, and even remotely activate the web camera and microphone, without the user’s knowledge.” Bahrain regime has been facing public protests since 2011 and is notorious for prosecuting individuals for their digital contents. Nearly a year ago, Bahrain sentenced a man for 10 years in jail for posting a message on WhatsApp. A satirical blogger was also arrested in mid-June for his posts on Twitter.