A report by the British newspaper "The Guardian" dealt with how the spyware program is stifling human rights in Bahrain, and indicated that there is increasing evidence that friends and enemies of the Gulf countries are being targeted by the "Pegasus" spyware of the Israeli technology company "NSO Group" (NSO). .

Investigative reporter Stephanie Kirchgesner and investigative journalist at Forbidden Stories stated that the phone of Bahraini lawyer Mohammed Al-Tajer - who was working in the field of human rights - was hacked by a government agent of the NSO Group, the owner of the Pegasus program.

They said the 55-year-old lawyer was known among opponents for his "courageous" defense of opposition leaders and protesters after the 2011 pro-democracy uprising in the tiny Gulf state, when authorities violently suppressed a series of demonstrations and protests with the help of Saudi forces.

The two journalists added that Al-Tajer was not involved in human rights issues for 5 years, yet he was arrested the last time and threatened with arrest by the Bahraini authorities.

Al-Tajer - who is still in Bahrain - says, "I was the head of the Bahrain Observatory for Human Rights, and I had activities in the field of human rights inside Bahrain or with the United Nations. The worst thing is that you feel that you are not safe."

"Instead of your phone being your friend, it is now your enemy. You don't know what private information, what information has already been disclosed to the state, it hurts," he added.

A separate investigation by the Pegasus Project (a media consortium investigating the NSO Group, which includes the Guardian newspaper and is coordinated by the French non-profit network of forbidden stories) has identified 20 Bahraini officials close to the government who may be targeted for surveillance.

Their phone numbers were identified with the help of the mobile phone of Bahraini liberal dissident Ali Abdulemam.

A separate investigation by Project Pegasus has identified 20 Bahraini officials close to the government who may be targeted for surveillance.

Mobile phone numbers - including those of loyalists close to the ruling family in Bahrain - appeared on a leaked database that Project Pegasus believes contains the phone numbers of individuals chosen to be targets of potential surveillance by NSO agents.

The newspaper stated that the individuals who became potential candidates for monitoring include 20 members of Bahrain's parliament, including Parliament Speaker Fawzia Zainal, who was appointed by the king, and Ahmed Sabah al-Salloum, a parliamentarian and member of the National Institution for Human Rights, an organization funded by the government of Bahrain.

Project Pegasus also identified 2 members of the royal family included in the leaked database, including Khalid bin Ahmed, the former foreign minister.

The individuals declined to comment on their appearance on the list.

The newspaper quoted security experts as saying that the series of discoveries paints a picture of a country that appears ready to use surveillance technology against its enemies and friends alike.

She pointed to what Bill Marxal, a researcher at the University of Toronto in Canada, said, "The situation in Bahrain is still largely repressive. Since 2011 Bahrain has been keen to try to remove institutions that help people organize, there is no space for dissent or activism, and spyware helps maintain This is the status quo."