Colombian Legislators File Criminal Charges Against Former President Duque
Former Colombian President Ivan Duque. Photo: EFE
September 26, 2024 Hour: 9:51 am
The far-right politician was involved in using Israeli software Pegasus to spy on political opponents and social activists.
On Wednesday, the Commission for Investigation and Prosecution of the House of Representatives decided to criminally charge former Colombian President Ivan Duque for his involvement in irregularities in the use of the Israeli spyware software Pegasus.
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“Among these crimes are money laundering, offering, selling or purchasing tools capable of intercepting private communications, embezzlement by diverting official resources, violation of the legal or constitutional regime of disqualifications and incompatibilities, abuse of authority through arbitrary or unjust acts, and conspiracy to commit a crime,” said Senator Ivan Cepeda of the Democratic Pole.
“It is a wide range of crimes that former President Duque allegedly committed, as it appears he had set up an apparatus for spying on and persecuting political opponents,” he added.
Given the impact of these human rights violations on various sectors of society, some of the victims of the espionage during the Duque administration are prepared to form an association to defend their interests.
“We need to know the truth and the consequences of these actions against our lives and against our families because it was aimed at destroying alternative projects, persecuting the opposition at that time, and affecting the lives of many of us. A thorough investigation must be conducted,” said Gloria Flores, a Senator and member of the Foreign Relations Committee.
Through these espionage actions, the Duque administration sought to persecute, terrorize, harass, and limit the freedoms of citizens and progressive social and political groups.
Something similar happened during the government of far-right President Alvaro Uribe between 2002 and 2010. During that period, the Jose Alvear Restrepo Lawyers’ Collective (CAJAR), which is dedicated to human rights defense, suffered the consequences of state espionage, and had to turn to international justice in an attempt to put limits on intelligence policies.
“The espionage didn’t end with the Uribe administration but continued during the Duque administration. We were able to show that they used equipment to profile members of the lawyers’ organization. In Colombia, intelligence services lack civilian and judicial oversight to determine the purpose of intelligence in a democratic country,” explained CAJAR member Soraya Hernandez.
For that reason, and to protect democratic processes in this South American country, progressive groups have introduced a bill to regulate intelligence and counterintelligence activities involving the use of technology.
Pegasus software, created by Israeli company NSO Group Technologies, is capable of wiretapping, spying on emails and text communications through applications such as WhatsApp, and scanning documents contained in the memory of mobile phones.
teleSUR/ JF Sources: EFE – teleSUR
