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By Thomas Rozanov<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n What George Orwell once fantasized in his novel \u20181984,\u2019 is an actual threat today. Individuals are confronted with surveillance that interferes with private lives, and human rights. Big Brother tyranny is set into practice with modern widespread technology. \u201cTelescreens\u201d used by Oceania\u2019s ruling party to constantly surveil citizens and prevent conspiracies and \u201cthoughtcrimes\u201d are now being replaced with unlawful access to online accounts, phone surveillance, cyberattacks, and hacking.<\/p>\n What once seemed like a dystopian plot, is now a reality. I suspect this dimension will play out more in the future, as individuals are becoming more technologically integrated and dependent. We should be warned to not only protect our physical human rights, but also the privacy of our virtual spaces and communication via technology. I draw attention to recent cases of unlawful surveillance and cyberattacks by governments targeting individuals in Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and Belarus.<\/span><\/p>\n Two weeks ago Amnesty released a report \u2018We Will Find You, Anywhere\u2019<\/a>, outlining the unlawful surveillance by Uzbekistan government, targeting citizens in the country itself and abroad. The report focuses on seven individuals whose human rights were tampered, through unlawful surveillance. Earlier, Amnesty International has documented serious human rights violations in Uzbekistan, including pervasive torture by security forces, and arbitrary detention.<\/p>\n Dmitry Tikhonov, a human rights defender, was forced to flee Uzbekistan after his work on a project to document forced labor, including child labor, during the cotton harvest, resulted in: an E-mail hack, burning of his house, initiated administrative cases, and lastly, accusation of involvement in a terrorist group.<\/p>\n Dmitry Tikhonov, image from \u2018We Will Find You Anywhere\u2019 report<\/p><\/div>\n Many Uzbekistani asylum seekers and refugees are forced to cut off contact with family inside Uzbekistan, due to fear of government surveillance and consequential persecution.<\/p>\n \u201cIn Uzbekistan everyone knows that the government is monitoring communications,\u201d an undisclosed political activist seeking refuge in Sweden says. Landlines and mobile phones fall under surveillance, and families of refugees are visited regularly by security services.<\/p>\n Nadejda Atayeva, the President of the Association for Human Rights in Central Asia has been cut off from her family for almost 17 years since she left the country. \u201cMy relatives\u2019 phones have been under surveillance since we left the country, almost 17 years ago. And the other political immigrants are in the same situation,\u201d she says. Her relatives were coerced to file a statement refusing to communicate and consider her as a bad dangerous person.<\/p>\n Nadejda Atayeva, image from \u2018We Will Find You Anywhere\u2019 report<\/p><\/div>\n Gulasal Kamolova a journalist who fled Uzbekistan in 2015 because of her work for an independent news website Uznews, says since residing in France for 11 months, she has avoided phone communications. She says the government attempted to find her number by questioning her close friends and relatives. But more importantly after being directly threatened upon departure, she does not feel safe anymore. She recalls as the Uzbek secret service officer said, \u201cwherever you are, we will find you, anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n Gulasal Kamolova, image from \u2018We Will Find You Anywhere\u2019 report<\/p><\/div>\n Galima Burkharbaeva former editor of Uznews.net, and Kamolova\u2019s colleague ran her website from abroad after fleeing Uzbekistan in 2005, most recently from Berlin, Germany. In November 2014 her e-mail account was hacked, later social media pages were created under her name with pornographic material.<\/p>\n Galima Bukharbaeva, image from \u2018We Will Find You Anywhere\u2019 report<\/p><\/div>\n Galima says one of her main struggles is facing constant anxiety and remote threats such as this cyberattack. As other Uznews.net journalists faced danger, after the government released a full list of names of journalists working for the site, she was forced to close Uznews.net in December 2014, even further reducing the small number of independent news sources on Uzbekistan.<\/p>\n Amnesty International calls for the government of Uzbekistan to reform laws governing surveillance, cease all harassment or targeting of family members of criminal suspects or other detained individuals. Amnesty calls other governments to ensure that no licenses are granted for surveillance technology to Uzbekistan until surveillance laws and practice are reformed to conform to international human rights law and standards. Amnesty calls telecom companies to consider impacts of operations, and support human rights by preventing and mitigating adverse impacts.<\/p>\n For more on the Uzbekistani government conducting unlawful surveillance, please view the film \u2018The Global Shadow of Uzbekistani Surveillance\u2019<\/a> produced by AI.<\/p>\n In Azerbaijan, human rights activists, journalists, and political dissidents have been targeted using multiple cyberattacks compromising passwords, contacts, emails, and social media. AI conducted research presented in report \u2018False Friends \u2013 how fake accounts and crude malware targeted dissidents in Azerbaijan\u2019<\/a> published on March 9, 2017. It details how victims have been targeted using a practice know as \u2018spear phising\u2019, which involves an email with an attachment containing a virus \u2013 known as malware \u2013 being sent to a target from a fake address.<\/p>\n In Belarus, the government is using phone networks run by some of the world\u2019s biggest telecom companies to stifle free speech and dissent. Last year AI released a report \u2018Belarus: \u201cIt\u2019s enough for people to feel it exists\u201d: Civil Society, Secrecy and Surveillance in Belarus\u2019<\/a>, which details how civil society operates under surveillance, international human rights law and surveillance, Belarus laws and practice, and the role of private companies.<\/p>\n Belarusian authorities have unfettered access to communications. Amnesty International sent letters to the three largest mobile phone providers which are partly owned by foreign companies\u2014Turkcell, Telekom Austria, and MTS, and did not receive any response.<\/p>\n Amnesty International believes that the companies are violating well-established standards on business and human rights. Under the UN\u2019s Guiding Principles for Business, national laws where a company operates cannot be used to justify human rights abuses.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.amnestyusa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-18-at-2.55.47-PM.png\")
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