Vietnam buying Israel spyware to repress opposition
Middle East Monitor | 2021-07-16
Israeli intelligence software Cellebrite is supplying Vietnam digital
surveillance tools which it has used to quash opposition, rights groups say.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz said Vietnam's Public Security Ministry, which
is responsible for the police and internal security, has purchased the software.
In a recent interview with the business daily Globes, the company's CEO,
Yossi Carmil, claimed the surveillance firm had developed technological
equipment that prevents its tools from landing into "the wrong hands".
However, an investigation conducted by Israeli human rights lawyer Eitay Mack,
exposed how Vietnamese authorities used the spyware in 2018 to detain a citizen,
who participated in a prank which involved displaying the flag of South Vietnam
which is banned in the country, for up to five years. His motorcycle and phone
were also confiscated by the state.
In an open letter published on Tuesday to the US Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) and investors, digital rights groups, including Access Now, the
Electronic Frontier Foundation, Privacy International, urged all "parties to
halt this deal until Cellebrite demonstrates that it has taken sufficient
measures to comply with human rights".
It further
stated Cellebrite's sales of surveillance tools were still "enabling detentions,
prosecutions, and harassment of journalists, civil rights activists, dissidents,
and minorities around the world."
Rights
lawyer Mack noted how Vietnam is also licensed to produce Israel's Tavor and
Galil ACE rifles and added a long list of high-level visits and meetings to the
country, including by senior Defense Ministry officials, former Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu and former President Reuven Rivlin.
In response,
a Cellebrite spokesperson said the company has "strict licensing policies and
restrictions that govern how customers may utilize our technology" and considers
"a potential customer's human rights record and anti-corruption policies."
The
company's SEC filing says it does not do business with Belarus, China, Hong
Kong, Macau, Russia and Venezuela, "partially due to concerns regarding human
rights and data security."
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