A group of 86 human rights groups and independent experts said Friday that the European Union should add the Israeli cyber-surveillance firm NSO Group, whose spyware was allegedly used by foreign governments to target dissidents around the world, to its global sanctions list.

In a letter to EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, groups including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International referenced a report last month that NSO’s Pegasus surveillance software was used to hack the cellphones of six Palestinian rights activists, at least half of whom were linked to groups controversially deemed terrorist organizations by the Israeli government. 

NSO’s Pegasus software was thrust into the spotlight in July when a consortium of international media outlets published an investigation that indicated the firm’s malware had been used by foreign governments to hack the phones of journalists, politicians and human rights activists. NSO Group has dismissed the reporting and says it licenses Pegasus to governments requiring surveillance tools to fight terrorism and crime. 

“There is overwhelming evidence that Pegasus spyware has been repeatedly used by abusive governments to clamp down on peaceful human rights defenders, activists and perceived critics,” said Deborah Brown, a senior digital rights researcher and advocate at Human Rights Watch. “The EU should immediately sanction NSO Group and ban any use of its technologies.”