At HRC60, SIHR Sounds the alarm on digital repression in the MENA region

From September 22-26, 2025, Skyline International for Human Rights (SIHR) participated in the 60th UN Human Rights Council as part of our advocacy mission to counter the rapid closure of civic space across the Middle East and North Africa. Together with our partners CIVICUS, SALAM for Democracy and Human Rights (SALAM DHR), HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement, Access Center for Human Rights (ACHR), and WeRise, we co-organized the side event "Human Rights in the MENA Region: Promoting Inclusion for a Future Where Public Participation Is Necessary." The event served as a crucial platform to highlight the severe challenges and shared struggles of civil society in Palestine, Tunisia, Bahrain, Egypt, and Syria.
 

The Digital Crackdown: A Regional Pattern of Tech-Facilitated Abuse

Across the MENA region, governments are replacing transparent governance with high-tech surveillance. From Tunisia to Syria and Bahrain to Palestine, a consistent pattern emerges: digital tools are leveraged to track, intimidate, and punish activists and human rights defenders.

During the event, SIHR highlighted this alarming trend, pointing to the rampant use of spyware and facial recognition. We noted that "Despite extensive documentation by civil society organizations, these surveillance tools remain widely profitable and largely unregulated, and in the absence of effective domestic laws or redress mechanisms, accountability is minimal."

This digital repression is often baked into the law itself. We cited Tunisia’s Decree-Law 54 as a prime example of legislation that criminalizes online speech with harsh penalties, creating a chilling effect that deters free expression and public debate. Perhaps most insidiously, technologies introduced for public good are being twisted into instruments of control. What began as pandemic-era health tools—like contact-tracing apps and drones—have been repurposed in countries like Tunisia and Bahrain for the mass surveillance of peaceful protests and citizens' movements.

From Chilling Effects to Lethal Outcomes

The consequences of this unregulated digital escalation are most starkly visible in Palestine, where Skyline’s research has documented a harrowing shift from surveillance to lethal targeting. We revealed how in Gaza, humanitarian aid has been weaponized through technology, with “the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation... forc[ing] Palestinians to surrender face scans and photographs in exchange for food.” This practice turns the basic right to sustenance into a tool for data extraction and control.

The situation escalates dramatically with the integration of AI into military operations. We sounded the alarm on systems like “Lavender,” which generates kill lists, and “Where’s Daddy,” which tracks targets to their homes. The human cost is catastrophic, embodied by the story of Hassan Hamad, a 19-year-old journalist from Gaza, who received a threatening WhatsApp message from the Israeli army warning, “If you continue spreading lies about Israel, we’ll come for you next.” His subsequent killing, alongside his family, is a terrifying testament to how digital threats can become physical realities.

Taking the Message Directly to Decision-Makers

Beyond the public forum, our advocacy mission included strategic high-level meetings to drive action. We met with the OHCHR Middle East and North Africa Department and with delegates from the Permanent Mission of Ireland.

In these meetings, we presented documented cases of the targeting of women human rights defenders through doxxing, defamation, and smear campaigns. We also detailed the complicity of private companies, including big tech platforms, in state repression—from enabling censorship to providing the very tools that power state surveillance. Furthermore, we shared our detailed findings on the use of surveillance technologies against Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, presenting evidence from our report, The Price of a Meal. We underscored the urgent need for a moratorium on such technologies in conflict settings and presented concrete recommendations for states to uphold their obligations under international law.

A Call for Accountability

In her closing remarks, Dima Samaro, our Executive Director, synthesized the urgent takeaway from the event: “Taken together, these examples illustrate a regional pattern: the normalization of surveillance, the closure of digital civic space, and the absence of safeguards to protect individuals’ privacy and dignity. These challenges demand urgent and coordinated responses from the international community.”

She emphasized that in the face of such systemic abuses, particularly in times of genocide, mere concern is not enough. “States and international actors must prohibit and ban the deployment of artificial intelligence and surveillance technologies that facilitate the targeting of civilians,” she stated, calling for the urgent establishment of effective mechanisms for accountability and redress.

Our participation at HRC60 served as a critical platform to expose how digital repression is undermining the very foundations of public participation. SIHR remains committed to championing a future where technology serves human rights, not the other way around, and where civic space—both online and offline—is protected and expanded for all.