Asian Tech Press (Dec 15) -- A group of U.S. lawmakers has asked the Treasury Department and State Department to sanction Israeli spyware company NSO Group and three other foreign surveillance companies, Reuters said in an exclusive report.

In the letter, which was sent late Tuesday and seen by Reuters, the lawmakers say the companies have helped authoritarian governments violate human rights.

It also said the companies have facilitated "the disappearance, torture and murder of human rights activists and journalists."

The report said the lawmakers also demanded sanctions against top executives at NSO, the United Arab Emirates cybersecurity firm DarkMatter and European online bulk surveillance companies Nexa Technologies and Trovicor.

Those lawmakers called for global Magnitsky sanctions to punish those accused of enabling human rights abuses by freezing bank accounts and banning travel to the United States.

The letter was signed by the U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff and 16 other Democratic lawmakers.

In early November, the U.S. Department of Commerce added NSO Group to entity list for malicious cyber activities, prohibiting U.S. vendors from selling software or services to the Israeli spyware maker without a special permit.

And Apple sued NSO in late November for allegedly targeting iPhone users with the hacking tool Pegasus.