General Intelligence and Security Service
Encyclopedia
Algemene Inlichtingen- en Veiligheidsdienst (AIVD), formerly known as the BVD (Binnenlandse Veiligheidsdienst - Domestic Security Service) is the General Intelligence and Security Service or The Secret service of the Netherlands
. The office is in Zoetermeer
. Its predecessor was the 1945-1947 Bureau voor Nationale Veiligheid (Bureau of National Security).
, whereas the Military Intelligence and Security Service
(MIVD) focuses on international threats, specifically military and government-sponsored threats such as espionage. The AIVD, unlike its predecessor BVD, is charged with collecting intelligence and assisting in combating both domestic and foreign threats to national security.
Since the murder of Theo van Gogh
and the discovery of the Hofstad Network
, AIVD has re focused on the Islamic Fundamentalist
threat to Dutch society.
The AIVD publishes an annual report which includes its budget. The published version contains redactions where information is deemed sensitive.
The AIVD can be forced by the courts to publish any records held on a private citizen, but it may keep secret information that is relevant to current cases. No information that is less than five years old will be provided under any circumstance to private citizens about their records.
The latter is technically the same as sourcing intelligence from a foreign intelligence service; this method has not been confirmed.
The AIVD operates in tight concert with the Regional Intelligence Service (Regionale Inlichtingen Dienst, RID), to which members of the police are appointed in every police district. It also co-operates with over one hundred intelligence services. Given the small size of the Netherlands, the latter co-operation is not likely to be symmetrical.
The service has been criticized for
During the Cold War
the BVD had a reputation for interviewing potential employers of persons they deemed suspicious for any reason, thereby worrying corporations on the employment of these persons. Reasons for being suspect included leftist ideals, membership of the Dutch Communist Party or a spotty military record (such as being a conscientious objector
with regard to conscription
), although no evidence of the latter has ever been produced.
s in the world.
The service's focus on leftist activism is legendary ; leftist activists exhibit great measures of paranoia relating to the service's activities, whether real or imaginary. This focus on leftist, rather than right-wing or Islamic organizations is a legacy from the Cold War
and historical threats posed by RaRa
, the Red Army Faction
and such. Some substance was lent to such paranoia by the confirmation that the Marxist-Leninist Party of the Netherlands
was a fake organization set up and entirely controlled by the security service.
It is likely that the AIVD has significant influence in police and prosecution circles, given recent cases where suspected terrorists were prosecuted (and found not guilty) or successfully extradited (Mullah Krekar
) without credible non-secret evidence.
Today the AIVD is believed to be one of the most effective secret services of Europe, although there is little known about the AIVD.
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. The office is in Zoetermeer
Zoetermeer
Zoetermeer is a city in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of 37.06 km² . A small village until the late 1960s, it had 6,392 inhabitants in 1950...
. Its predecessor was the 1945-1947 Bureau voor Nationale Veiligheid (Bureau of National Security).
Mission
The AIVD focuses mostly on domestic non-military threats to Dutch National securityNational security
National security is the requirement to maintain the survival of the state through the use of economic, diplomacy, power projection and political power. The concept developed mostly in the United States of America after World War II...
, whereas the Military Intelligence and Security Service
Military Intelligence and Security Service
Military Intelligence and Security Service can refer to* Military Intelligence and Security Service Sweden, the Swedish external intelligence agency...
(MIVD) focuses on international threats, specifically military and government-sponsored threats such as espionage. The AIVD, unlike its predecessor BVD, is charged with collecting intelligence and assisting in combating both domestic and foreign threats to national security.
Since the murder of Theo van Gogh
Theo van Gogh (film director)
Theodoor "Theo" van Gogh was a Dutch film director, film producer, columnist, author and actor.Van Gogh worked with the Somali-born writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali to produce the film Submission, which criticized the treatment of women in Islam and aroused controversy among Muslims...
and the discovery of the Hofstad Network
Hofstad Network
The Hofstad Network is an Islamist group of mostly young Dutch Muslims of mainly Moroccan ancestry.The name "Hofstad" was originally the codename the Dutch secret service AIVD used for a set of individuals and leaked to the media...
, AIVD has re focused on the Islamic Fundamentalist
Islamic fundamentalism
Islamic fundamentalism is a term used to describe religious ideologies seen as advocating a return to the "fundamentals" of Islam: the Quran and the Sunnah. Definitions of the term vary. According to Christine L...
threat to Dutch society.
Oversight and accountability
The minister of internal affairs (and relations within the realm) is politically responsible for the AIVD's actions. Oversight is provided by the Intelligence Committee of the House of Representatives, comprising the speakers for the parties in the House.The AIVD publishes an annual report which includes its budget. The published version contains redactions where information is deemed sensitive.
The AIVD can be forced by the courts to publish any records held on a private citizen, but it may keep secret information that is relevant to current cases. No information that is less than five years old will be provided under any circumstance to private citizens about their records.
Activities
Its main activities include;- monitoring specific groups, such as leftist activists, Islamic groups, and right-wing extremists
- sourcing intelligence to and from foreign and domestic intelligence services
- performing background checks on individuals employed in "positions of trust", specifically public office, and higher-up or privileged positions in industry (such as telecommunications, banks, the largest companies) this ironically includes members of parliamentary oversight committees
- investigating incidents such as (terrorist) bombings and threats
- giving advice and warning about risks to national security, including advising on the protection of political figureheads
Methods and authorities
Its methods and authorities include- telephone and internet taps authorized by the minister of internal affairs (as opposed to a court order)
- infiltrationEspionageEspionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
(rarely by employees of the service, but rather by outsiders who would have easy access to a particular group) - the use of informantInformantAn informant is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law enforcement world, where they are officially known as confidential or criminal informants , and can often refer pejoratively to the supply of information...
s (existing members of groups that are recruited) - open sources intelligence
- unfettered access to police intelligence
- the use of foreign intelligence service liaisons that reside in the Netherlands under a diplomatic status (including full diplomatic immunityDiplomatic immunityDiplomatic immunity is a form of legal immunity and a policy held between governments that ensures that diplomats are given safe passage and are considered not susceptible to lawsuit or prosecution under the host country's laws...
) to collect intelligence in excess of the AIVD's authority
The latter is technically the same as sourcing intelligence from a foreign intelligence service; this method has not been confirmed.
The AIVD operates in tight concert with the Regional Intelligence Service (Regionale Inlichtingen Dienst, RID), to which members of the police are appointed in every police district. It also co-operates with over one hundred intelligence services. Given the small size of the Netherlands, the latter co-operation is not likely to be symmetrical.
Criticism
- Soon after the arrest of the Dutch businessman Frans van AnraatFrans van AnraatFrans Cornelis Adrianus van Anraat is a Dutch businessman who sold raw materials for the production of chemical weapons to Iraq during the reign of Saddam Hussein.-Business in Iraq:...
who has been convicted of complicity in war crimes for selling raw materials for the production of chemical weapons to Iraq during the reign of Saddam HusseinSaddam HusseinSaddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
, Dutch newspapers reported that Van Anraat had been an informer of the Dutch secret service AIVD and has enjoyed AIVD's protection.
The service has been criticized for
- letting go of Abdul Qadeer KhanAbdul Qadeer KhanAbdul Qadeer Khan , also known in Pakistan as Mohsin-e-Pakistan , D.Eng, Sc.D, HI, NI , FPAS; more widely known as Dr. A. Q...
, who stole Dutch nuclear knowledge and used it for PakistanPakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
to produce its nuclear bomb. However, former prime Minister of the NetherlandsPrime Minister of the NetherlandsThe Prime Minister of the Netherlands is the chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Netherlands. He is the de facto head of government of the Netherlands and coordinates the policy of the government...
Ruud LubbersRuud LubbersRudolphus Franciscus Marie "Ruud" Lubbers is a retired Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal . He served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from November 4, 1982 until August 22, 1994....
claimed in 2005 that this was done on a foreign request. - not having enough focus and intelligence on Islamic groups, particularly following the September 11, 2001 attacksSeptember 11, 2001 attacksThe September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
and the murder of Theo van GoghTheo van Gogh (film director)Theodoor "Theo" van Gogh was a Dutch film director, film producer, columnist, author and actor.Van Gogh worked with the Somali-born writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali to produce the film Submission, which criticized the treatment of women in Islam and aroused controversy among Muslims...
by Mohammed BouyeriMohammed BouyeriMohammed Bouyeri is an Islamist Dutch–Moroccan and convicted murderer. He is currently serving a life sentence without parole for the assassination of Dutch film director Theo van Gogh. He holds both Dutch and Moroccan citizenship...
a member of the Hofstad NetworkHofstad NetworkThe Hofstad Network is an Islamist group of mostly young Dutch Muslims of mainly Moroccan ancestry.The name "Hofstad" was originally the codename the Dutch secret service AIVD used for a set of individuals and leaked to the media...
of Islamist terrorism - not having enough focus and intelligence on political violence or environmental groups, particularly following the murder of Pim FortuynPim FortuynWilhelmus Simon Petrus Fortuijn, known as Pim Fortuyn was a Dutch politician, civil servant, sociologist, author and professor who formed his own party, Pim Fortuyn List ....
by an environmental radical - delivering hand grenades to members of the Hofstadgroep through alleged informer Saleh Bouali
- investigating family members of the Queen, that had had a family rift (Princess MargaritaPrincess Margarita, Countess of Colornoalign=right|Already a Ducal Princess from birth, her father bestowed on 2 September 1996 the substantive title Contessa di Colorno upon her. The same year she was incorporated into the Dutch Nobility by Queen Beatrix, with the highest noble title Prinses de Bourbon de Parme and styled Hare...
and Edwin De Roy van Zuydewijn) though this was not ordered by the minister of internal affairs, but rather by the Queen's office - losing a laptop and a floppy disk with classified information from a regional office of the AIVD. The disk was found by an employee of a car rental agency, and subsequently given to Dutch crime-journalist Peter R. de VriesPeter R. de VriesPeter Rudolf de Vries is a Dutch Investigative Journalist and crime reporter. His television program covers high profile cases and set a Dutch television viewing record. In 2005, he started his own political party which was disbanded soon after.-Early life and career:Peter Rudolf de Vries was born...
. Information on the disks indicated that the service collected information on Dutch politician Pim FortuynPim FortuynWilhelmus Simon Petrus Fortuijn, known as Pim Fortuyn was a Dutch politician, civil servant, sociologist, author and professor who formed his own party, Pim Fortuyn List ....
and members of his party, as well as on left-wing activists. Among other things, the documents accuse Pim FortuynPim FortuynWilhelmus Simon Petrus Fortuijn, known as Pim Fortuyn was a Dutch politician, civil servant, sociologist, author and professor who formed his own party, Pim Fortuyn List ....
of having sex with under age Moroccan boys.
During the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
the BVD had a reputation for interviewing potential employers of persons they deemed suspicious for any reason, thereby worrying corporations on the employment of these persons. Reasons for being suspect included leftist ideals, membership of the Dutch Communist Party or a spotty military record (such as being a conscientious objector
Conscientious objector
A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....
with regard to conscription
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
), although no evidence of the latter has ever been produced.
Influence and results
Before 2001, the Netherlands had the largest absolute number of wiretapTelephone tapping
Telephone tapping is the monitoring of telephone and Internet conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitoring connection was an actual electrical tap on the telephone line...
s in the world.
The service's focus on leftist activism is legendary ; leftist activists exhibit great measures of paranoia relating to the service's activities, whether real or imaginary. This focus on leftist, rather than right-wing or Islamic organizations is a legacy from the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
and historical threats posed by RaRa
Rara
Originating in Haïti, rara is a form of festival music used for street processions, typically during Easter Week. The music centers on a set of cylindrical bamboo trumpets called vaksen , but also features drums, maracas, güiras or güiros , and metal bells, as well as sometimes also cylindrical...
, the Red Army Faction
Red Army Faction
The radicalized were, like many in the New Left, influenced by:* Sociological developments, pressure within the educational system in and outside Europe and the U.S...
and such. Some substance was lent to such paranoia by the confirmation that the Marxist-Leninist Party of the Netherlands
Marxist-Leninist Party of the Netherlands
The Marxist-Leninist Party of the Netherlands was a fake pro-China communist party in the Netherlands set up by the Dutch secret service BVD to develop contacts with the Chinese government for espionage purposes. It existed from 1968 to the early 1990s...
was a fake organization set up and entirely controlled by the security service.
It is likely that the AIVD has significant influence in police and prosecution circles, given recent cases where suspected terrorists were prosecuted (and found not guilty) or successfully extradited (Mullah Krekar
Mullah Krekar
Mullah Krekar , is a Kurdish Sunni Islamist terrorist who came to Norway as a refugee from northern Iraq in 1991. His wife and four children have Norwegian citizenship, but not Krekar himself. He speaks Kurdish, Arabic, Norwegian and English...
) without credible non-secret evidence.
Today the AIVD is believed to be one of the most effective secret services of Europe, although there is little known about the AIVD.