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Belgium: State Security violates privacy

01 November 1994

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The Belgian intelligence and security services routinely violate the privacy of thousands of citizens each year. That is the conclusion of an annual report written by a permanent committee established by the Belgian parliament to oversee the activities of the security forces in the wake of the Gladio affair. The report argues that tighter legislation is needed.

The report states that most of the people investigated by intelligence services have no connection with any "subversive organisation" but are ordinary citizens who apply for jobs within sensitive areas, such as the NATO headquarters in Evere. The people who are vetted stretch from top civil servants through to cleaners. The committee complains that for the most part the secret services carry out these investigations without any legal framework or proper political supervision. The report also calls for a clear definition of the secret services' general tasks, as opposed to the use of such terms as "internal security of the state" and "subversive activities" which the committee describes as vague and potentially in conflict with a citizen's constitutional civil rights.

De Morgen 24.10.94.

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