ISTANBUL - The Nobel Peace Prize laureate Tawakkol Karman said that the UAE hacking into her phone, like a number of leaders and activists, according to Reuters, is very regrettable and a gross violation of their privacy.

"The UAE through this process has not only exceeded the freedoms of officials and activists, but it has gone beyond that to pose a real threat to their lives," Karman told Al Jazeera Net.

In response to a question about the nature of the information the UAE might have obtained, Karman said, "It is certain that a lot of information about her movements has been gathered through the spying operation."

"I do not rule out that the information obtained is used to target those who have been spied on, whether by kidnapping, enforced disappearance or even murder, especially since the UAE has a record of all these crimes."

Karman said she had never received any warnings about UAE spying on her phones.

"Abu Dhabi is fighting a wide-ranging war to destroy my people, my country and all the goals for which I fought, and I find their hand in all fields of devastation in Yemen," she said.

Demands investigation

On the next steps that may be taken, the Yemeni activist said that it is normal to prosecute the UAE and those who carried out the spying and hacking, calling at the same time the US administration to immediately begin an investigation into this serious issue, which Reuters revealed its details.

According to an investigation by the agency, a team of former US intelligence officers worked for Abu Dhabi to hack iPhone devices for activists, diplomats and foreign leaders in favor of the UAE, using a sophisticated spy device called “Karma.”

Karman said it was sad that Americans were involved in providing assistance and techniques to spy on those the UAE considered adversaries.

"Americans were expected to support the protection of human rights defenders and provide them with all means of protection and security, not being a tool in the hands of despotic regimes to spy on activists and enable them to oppress their people," she said.

The investigation, which was published by Reuters, revealed that the UAE had recruited a team of about 12 former CIA agents to help spy on targets including the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, the Omani foreign affairs official Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah and a senior Turkish official, and Yemeni activist Tawakkol Karman.

According to Reuters, the Karma spy device, used by the UAE, has enabled it to monitor hundreds of people since 2016.

According to the investigation, members of the secret group known as Project Raven were carrying out their activities from one of the palaces of Abu Dhabi.

The investigation showed that the team relied on techniques they had learned during their tenure at the National Security Agency, Lori Stroud, a former Raven operative who also previously worked at the U.S. National Security Agency, told Reuters.