Court Upholds R3D's Right to Access Spyware Contracts
The First Collegiate Court of the Thirtieth Circuit rules in favour of R3D, upholding the right to access spyware contracts acquired by the Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA) in Mexico.
After four years of litigation, the First Collegiate Court of the Thirtieth Circuit has upheld the ruling protecting R3D's constitutional rights concerning the failure to release public versions of the contracts signed between SEDENA and Comercializadora Antsua S.A. de C.V. in 2018 and 2019, relative to the spyware system.
The Collegiate Court underlined the considerations of the District Judge, including that the deadline for complying with a resolution mandating the disclosure of Pegasus contracts has long since expired. This resolution was issued by the National Institute of Data Protection, Transparency and Access to Information (INAI) in January 2023. INAI's resolution overturned SEDENA's response claiming the contracts did not exist and ordered the release of public versions of the information.
SEDENA classified the information, ignoring the binding nature of INAI's resolution. In response, R3D filed a lawsuit, obtaining a favorable ruling in 2024 by the Sixteenth District Judge in Administrative Affairs of Mexico City.
The legal efforts to disclose these documents date back to 2022, when the Ejército Espía investigation demonstrated the existence of (at least) two contracts (DN-10 SAIT-1975/P/2019, DN-10 SAIT-1938/P/2018) for the acquisition of “Remote Monitoring Information Services”, valued at over 140 million pesos (between 6.7 and 7.7 million dollars at the time). These are contracts that SEDENA previously denied in response to freedom of information requests.
| Contract | Year | Value (Pesos) | Value (Dollars) |
|---|---|---|---|
| DN-10 SAIT-1975/P/2019 | 2019 | over 70 million | between 3.4 and 3.9 million |
| DN-10 SAIT-1938/P/2018 | 2018 | over 70 million | between 3.4 and 3.9 million |
SEDENA challenged the ruling under procedural arguments and “the impossibility to disclose public versions of information classified in its entirety”. The appeal was examined by the First Collegiate Court of the Thirtieth Circuit in July 2026. The Court dismissed SEDENA's arguments as they failed to address the District Judge's considerations regarding the lack of compliance with INAI's resolution, and the violation of R3D's right to access to justice and right to access to information.
The Court recalled that INAI “identified the contracts as public official information that must be submitted”, also noting that SEDENA “cannot argue that the information is classified or claim any issue to impede its access”, given that the oversight body (INAI) had already examined and issued a decision on the matter. Consequently, the Court confirmed the ruling ordering SEDENA to comply with INAI's resolution.
R3D has developed technical recommendations on how to effectively regulate the acquisition processes of surveillance technologies and systems in Mexico, including vendor registry, registration requirements, and controls over the procurement process.
