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Algemene Inlichtingen- en Veiligheidsdienst (AIVD), formerly known as the BVD (Binnenlandse Veiligheidsdienst) is the General Intelligence and Security Office of the Netherlands. The office is in Leidschendam-Voorburg. Leidschendam-Voorburg (population: 73,832 in 2004) is a municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. ...
About this information
Since the AIVD is a secret service it is hard to verify information contained on this page. The AIVD's website (including its yearly reports), and occasional answers to questions in parliament are the only official sources of information available. The following is further based on media reports.
Mission The AIVD focussus mostly on domestic non-military threats to Dutch National security, whereas the Military Intelligence and Security Office (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 combatting both domestic and foreign threats to national security. Security measures taken to protect the Houses of Parliament in London, England. ...
Since the murder of Theo van Gogh and the discovery of the Hofstad Network, AIVD has refocused itself on the Islamic Fundementalist threat to Dutch society. Theo van Gogh Theo van Gogh (July 23, 1957 – November 2, 2004) was a controversial Dutch film director, television producer, publicist and actor. ...
The Hofstad Network (in Dutch: Hofstadnetwerk or Hofstadgroep) is an Islamist terrorist cell of mostly young Dutch Muslims of mainly North African ancestry. ...
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 parliament, comprising the speakers for the biggest four parties in the second chamber of parliament (cf. Congress, Commons), and by an Oversight Committee with members appointed by parliament. A congress is a gathering of people, especially a gathering for a political purpose. ...
In England and Wales, a common is a piece of land over which other people -- often neighbouring landowners -- could exercise one of a number of traditional rights, such as allowing their cattle to graze upon it. ...
The AIVD publishes a yearly 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)
- infiltration (rarely by employees of the service, but rather by outsiders who would have easy access to a particular group)
- the use of informants (existing members of groups that are recruted)
- open sources intelligence
- unfettered access to police intelligence
- the use of foreign intelligence service liaisons (such as CIA personnel) that reside in the Netherlands under a diplomatic status (including full diplomatic immunity) 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, conversely however, Dutch citizens have been extradited to the US on the basis of evidence provided by diplomats. Since the US constitution does not apply in The Netherlands, but long arm statutes do, these agents were unconcerned with whether their activities constituted entrapment. See: espionage, urban exploration, entryism, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. ...
An Informant is someone who provides information to law enforcement agencies. ...
The CIA Seal The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is one of the American foreign intelligence agencies, responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and individuals, and reporting such information to the various branches of the U.S. Government. ...
Diplomatic immunity is a form of legal immunity and a policy held between governments, which ensures that diplomats are given safe passage and are considered not susceptible to lawsuit or prosecution under the host countrys laws (although they can be expelled). ...
Extradition is a formal process by which a criminal suspect held by one government is handed over to another government for trial or, if the suspect has already been tried and found guilty, to serve his or her sentence. ...
For the film, see Entrapment (movie). ...
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, including the CIA. Given the small size of the Netherlands, the latter co-operation is not likely to be symmetrical.
Criticism Recently the service has been critized for - not having enough focus and intelligence on islamic groups, particularly following September 11th and murder of Theo van Gogh by Mohammed Bouyeri a member of the Hofstad Network of Islamic terrorists
- not having enough focus and intelligence on political violence or environmental groups, particularly following the murder of Pim Fortuyn by an environmental radical
- investigating family members of the Queen, that had had a family rift (Princess Margarita and Edwin De Roy van Zuydewijn) though this was not ordered by the minister of internal affairs, but rather by the Queen's office
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). The World Trade Center on fire The September 11, 2001 attacks were a series of coordinated terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001. ...
Theo van Gogh Theo van Gogh (July 23, 1957 – November 2, 2004) was a controversial Dutch film director, television producer, publicist and actor. ...
Mohammed Bouyeri Mohammed Bouyeri (b. ...
The Hofstad Network (in Dutch: Hofstadnetwerk or Hofstadgroep) is an Islamist terrorist cell of mostly young Dutch Muslims of mainly North African ancestry. ...
Islamist terrorism, sometimes called Islamic terrorism, is terrorism that is carried out to further the political and religious ambitions of a segment of the Muslim community. ...
Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn Dr. Wilhelmus Simon Petrus Fortuijn, known as Pim Fortuyn (pronounced somewhat like for-TOWN, IPA: ), (February 19, 1948 – May 6, 2002), was a controversial politician in the Netherlands who formed his own party List Pim Fortuyn (LPF). ...
For the generic term for a high-tension rivalry between countries, see cold war (war). ...
The Communist party of the Netherlands (CPN, in Dutch Communistische Partij Nederland) was a communist party of the Netherlands. ...
A conscientious objector is an individual whose personal beliefs are incompatible with military service, perhaps with any role in the armed forces or just with a particular war. ...
Influence and results Before September 11th the Netherlands had the largest absolute number of wiretaps in the world, more even than the US (although international calls to and from the US never needed any court order to be intercepted and were not included in the figures). To this day it is a widely held belief that requests for wiretaps by the AIVD are always granted. September 11 is the 254th day of the year (255th in leap years). ...
Telephone tapping or Wire tapping/ Wiretapping (in US) describes the monitoring of telephone conversations by a third party, often by covert means. ...
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 the Red Army Faction and such. For the generic term for a high-tension rivalry between countries, see cold war (war). ...
RAF Logo with red star and MP5 The Red Army Faction (in German: Rote Armee Fraktion; RAF), also known as the Baader-Meinhof Group, or the Baader-Meinhof Gang, which was one of the core groups within the RAF, was postwar Germanys most active left-wing terrorist organization. ...
Public opinion, however, regards the AIVD as largely ineffectual, whereas paranoiacs respond to this with "that's what they want you to believe!". Part of the service's effectiveness is the atmosphere of mistrust it inspires amongst activists.
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. Mullah Krekar in a Norwegian court of law Najmuddin Faraj Ahmad, commonly know as mullah Krekar, born July 7, 1956, is an Iraqi mullah who came to Norway as a refugee from northern Iraq in 1991. ...
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