The Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakkol Karman has called for an investigation into the case of spying in the UAE and the involvement of US companies owned by former US National Security officials.

Karman said that the UAE's hacking and spying did not only violate the privacy of individuals, and infringe on their freedoms, but constituted a real threat to their lives.

In order to target their safety, the UAE uses that information for abduction, enforced disappearance or murder, she said.

Karman stressed that the United States was supposed to provide human rights activists and defenders with necessary techniques and tools to protect their information, not to help autocrats hack and spy. 

Reuters reported that an investigation had revealed that the UAE is spying on Arab leaders and opponents by employing former agents in the US intelligence.

The investigation confirmed that the UAE had recruited a dozen of former US intelligence agents to help spur their adversaries, including governments, human rights activists, including the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Tawakkol Karman.

She pointed out that the spy device "Karma", used by the UAE, has enabled it to monitor hundreds of personalities beginning in 2016.