[UPDATED] PM: Opposition Leader should bring spying proof to Parliament

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley is calling on Opposition Leader to present to Parliament and the public the documentary evidence which she said proves that government is using Pegasus Spyware Software to spy on citizens.

Speaking in Parliament on Friday, Dr Rowley said even though he has "refuted" claims made by Kamla Persad-Bissessar that the government, state agencies, and the police service were spying on citizens, she has continued to repeat the claims.

“The Opposition Leader or her subordinates in this House must make available to the citizenry, the basis on which these unsettling allegations are being published locally and internationally, to the detriment of the people of TT.

"The Opposition Leader persists with her claims, advertising that she has documentary evidence of such wrongdoing by this government. In this situation and under these circumstances the Opposition Leader is duty bound to bring it here for treatment by this House.”

Rowley described as completely untrue and false the allegations that the state was using Pegasus software to illegally intercept telecommunications and engage in widespread spying on citizens of TT. He said the State does not, nor has it ever possessed or used Pegasus software, and no state agencies has any officer using the software.

“I can also state categorically, that the Government took a conscious decision not to procure Pegasus due to its overreaching capacity for penetration, abuse and justifiable concerns about it, including the many internationally troubling reports surrounding its use, which are less than favourable.

“The Strategic Services Agency (SSA) is the sole custodian of all known interception of communication software and hardware procured by the government or any other state agency. It is this government’s policy that all such technology should reside within the control of the SSA. The SSA has provided an intercept suite to be used by the police, but the equipment is the sole responsibility of the SSA and remains under the SSA’s strict jurisdiction. This is to ensure accountability and control by vetted officers engaged in crime fighting and matters of national security.”

Dr Rowley noted that this instance was not the first time that the Opposition Leader had made false allegations about interception of communication.

“In 2010, the Strategic Services Agency (SSA), the Special Anti-Crime Unit of TT (SAUTT) and the Security Intelligence Agency (SIA) were accused, by the then Prime Minister, the member for Siparia, of spying on law-abiding citizens. The motive for such accusations were eventually revealed and these serious accusations were never shown to be factual or even pursued, once they served the unseemly purpose for which they were made.”

Rowley said these false accusations had several adverse repercussions for the country, the Intelligence Agencies and their staff and went on to cost the taxpayers millions of dollars in damages to be paid to wrongfully terminated officers.

In December 2010, then AG Anand Ramlogan accused then Opposition Leader Patrick Manning of instructing the SIA to wiretap his phone as well as those of other opponents of the PNM government. These statements were supported by then PM, Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

Interceptions made according to law

Rowley said the SSA uses its intercept technology to conduct legal intercepts, which are intercepts done within the parameters of the Interception of Communication Act, Chap, 15:08 and amendments contained in the Interception of Communications Amendment Act, 2020.

“The Act makes it clear that there are only three persons who can authorise interception of communications, the Chief of Defence Staff, the Commissioner of Police and the Director of the SSA.”

He said there must be documented justification for the targeting of a device for interception of communication.

“This documentation must justify the use of the State’s tools to intercept and creates a record of all intercepts conducted. It is important to also note that the interception of communication is a digital transaction, and therefore, it is very easy to verify or disprove allegations of misuse and to determine who made the intercept.

"It should be emphasised here that any and all acts of interception of telecommunications without invoking the provisions of the carefully crafted existing laws, are acts of illegality with very serious consequences for any person who so engages.”

Rowley said reports are produced annually by the SSA which are laid in Parliament. He said the number of intercepts does not directly correlate with the number of people or devices being intercepted.

“Very often persons engaged in criminal activity have more than one device and change devices frequently thus leading to an increase in the number of devices that are intercepted. Also, authorised intercepts are only granted for a limited time and if an extension is required a judicial officer must grant such an order or extension, which also leads to the number of intercepts recorded.”

He said the Opposition Leader has used these large numbers to create the impression that something untoward is taking place, which he said is not so.

“This is irresponsibility and political mischief intended to frighten and anger the population once they can be mentally corralled into believing that their government is abusing its authority and is illegally prying into the lives of the ordinary law-abiding citizen. There has been a concerted, and conscious effort, to mislead not only the population of TT but also those in the international community who pay attention to the affairs of TT.”

Rowley said the intelligence gathered from interception is given to the police service to follow up where necessary. He said it is used to find victims of kidnappings, prevent murders, disrupt terrorist plots and lead to the seizure of drugs, guns and other contraband.

He said the SSA is an intelligence agency which engages in a far wider scope of activities than just intercepting communication. He said interception of communication is used solely in the interest of national security, for the prevention and detection of serious crime, for the purpose of safeguarding the social and economic well-being of the state and for the purpose of giving effect to the provision of any international mutual assistance agreement.

This story was originally published with the title "Prime Minister denies UNC claims of Government spying on citizens" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

The Prime Minister is calling on the Opposition Leader to present to Parliament and the public the documentary evidence which she said proves that government is using Pegasus Spyware software to spy on citizens.

Speaking in Parliament on Friday, Dr Rowley said even though he has refuted claims by Kamla Persad-Bissessar that the government, state agencies and the police were spying on citizens, she has continued to repeat the claims.

“The Opposition Leader or her subordinates in this House must make available to the citizenry the basis on which these unsettling allegations are being published locally and internationally, to the detriment of the people of TT. The Opposition Leader persists with her claims, advertising that she has documentary evidence of such wrongdoing by this government.

"In this situation and under these circumstances the Opposition Leader is duty-bound to bring it here for treatment by this House.”

Rowley described as completely untrue and false the allegations that the State was using Pegasus software to illegally intercept telecommunications and engage in widespread spying on citizens of TT. He said the State does not possess, nor has it ever possessed or used Pegasus software, and no state agencies has any officer using the software.

“I can also state categorically, that the Government took a conscious decision not to procure Pegasus due to its overreaching capacity for penetration, abuse and justifiable concerns about it, including the many internationally troubling reports surrounding its use, which are less than favourable.

“The Strategic Services Agency (SSA) is the sole custodian of all known interception of communication software and hardware procured by the government or any other state agency. It is this government’s policy that all such technology should reside within the control of the SSA.

"The SSA has provided an intercept suite to be used by the police, but the equipment is the sole responsibility of the SSA and remains under the SSA’s strict jurisdiction. This is to ensure accountability and control by vetted officers engaged in crime fighting and matters of national security.”

He said the SSA uses its intercept technology to do legal interception, within the parameters of the Interception of Communication Act, and amendments in the Interception of Communications (Amendment) Act, 2020.

“The act makes it clear that there are only three persons who can authorise interception of communications, the Chief of Defence Staff, the Commissioner of Police and the Director of the SSA.

He said there must be documented justification for targeting a device for intercepting communication.

“This documentation must justify the use of the State’s tools to intercept and creates a record of all intercepts conducted. It is important to also note that the interception of communication is a digital transaction, and therefore, it is very easy to verify or disprove allegations of misuse and to determine who made the intercept. It should be emphasised here that any and all acts of interception of telecommunications without invoking the provisions of the carefully crafted existing laws, are acts of illegality with very serious consequences for any person who so engages.”

Rowley said the SSA produces annual reports which are laid in Parliament. He said the number of intercepts does not directly correlate with the number of people or devices being intercepted.

“Very often persons engaged in criminal activity have more than one device and change devices frequently, thus leading to an increase in the number of devices that are intercepted.

"Also, authorised intercepts are only granted for a limited period of time and if an extension is required a judicial officer must grant such an order or extension and this too leads to the number of intercepts recorded.”

He said the Opposition Leader has used these large numbers to create the impression that something untoward is taking place, which he said is not so.

“This is irresponsibility and political mischief intended to frighten and anger the population once they can be mentally corralled into believing that their government is abusing its authority and is illegally prying into the lives of the ordinary law-abiding citizen. There has been a concerted and conscious effort to mislead not only the population of TT but also those in the international community who pay attention to the affairs of TT.”

Rowley said the intelligence gathered from interception is given to the police to follow up where necessary. and is used to find victims of kidnappings, prevent murders, disrupt terrorist plots and lead to the seizure of drugs, guns and other contraband.

He said interception of communication is used solely in the interest of national security, to prevent and detect serious crime, for the purpose of safeguarding the social and economic well-being of the State and for giving effect to the provision of any international mutual assistance agreement.

He said the SSA is an intelligence agency with a far wider scope of activities than just intercepting communication.

This story was originally published with the title "Prime Minister denies UNC claims of Government spying on citizens" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

The Prime Minister has described as false statements by the Opposition Leader about government’s alleged illegal interception of citizens' communications by using the Pegasus Spyware Solution interception tool.

He called on the Opposition Leader to provide the documentary evidence of these interceptions that she has said she has.

Speaking in Parliament on Friday, Dr Rowley said the State does not possess, nor has it ever possessed or used Pegaus spyware.

“Contrary to the current misinformation campaign on this issue, there is no truth whatsoever, in the allegation that the state, including, the police service ('TTPS') and/ or the Strategic Services Agency (SSA), or any other state agency for that matter, has any officer using Pegasus spyware.

"The SSA is the sole custodian of all known interception of communication software and hardware procured by the government or any other state agency, and it is this government’s policy that that all such technology should reside within the control of the SSA.”

He said the SSA uses its intercept technology to do legal interception, within the parameters of the Interception of Communication Act, and amendments in the Interception of Communications (Amendment) Act, 2020.

“The act makes it clear that there are only three persons who can authorise interception of communications, the Chief of Defence Staff, the Commissioner of Police and the Director of the SSA. As part of the process and legal procedure for approved intercept of communications, there must be a documented justification for the targeting of any device from which communication is intercepted. This documentation must justify the use of the State’s tools to intercept and creates a record of all intercepts conducted.”

Rowley said the interception is digital and therefore it was easy to verify or disprove allegations of misuse and to determine who made the intercept.

He called on Kamla Persad-Bissessar to bring her evidence to the House of Representatives.

“The Opposition Leader or her subordinates in this House must make available to the citizenry the basis on which these unsettling allegations are being published locally and internationally, to the detriment of the people of Trinidad and Tobago. The Opposition Leader persists with her claims, advertising that she has documentary evidence of such wrongdoing by this government. In this situation and under these circumstances the Opposition Leader is duty-bound to bring it here for treatment by this honourable House.”