Holland: counter report on BVD
01 July 2003
In mid-June, the Dutch investigative bureau Jansen & Janssen in Amsterdam published a book as a counter-report to the BVD's annual report (the BVD is the internal security service). In 10 chapters different aspects of security service policy and operations are discussed which are unlikely to appear in the official report. For example, the continued harassment of refugees, of people believed to be connected to the activist Rara group and BVD interventions resulting in progressive people losing or being denied a job, even though such jobs do not require a security clearance.
The book also draws the attention to the BVD's confusing attitude in confronting rightwing extremism. While relatively harmless groups are pursued, an extremist gun club involved in several illegal activities is allowed to remain in business. The book deals extensively with the security service's efforts to become accepted in the academic world and in the public debate. The Netherlands Intelligence Studies Association (NISA) for example, a members-only debating club where intelligence personnel and academics meet to discuss historical and current issues, is criticized for its willingness to function as a platform for BVD propaganda and its refusal to accept more progressive academic participants.
Although the research for certain chapters (e.g. those dealing with Suriname) could have been more extensive, the book is a very useful counter to BVD reports which otherwise would go unchallenged. The chapter on the Dutch foreign intelligence service IDB provides a good summary of the events that led to its closing down, a phenomenon that could be of interest to foreign observers.
Buro Jansen & Janssen: Opening van zaken Een ander BVD jaarverslag. Amsterdam: Ravijn 1993 160pp ISBN 90-72768-30-2.
BVD annual report
On July 21, the BVD published its 52-page annual report. For the first time, the security service warns of illegal practices by 'information dealers', independent bureaus trading in business intelligence. The BVD, together with security officers of some 'vital corporations', started an investigation into such activities. Questionable information brokers are said to resort to bribes, blackmail and methods which bear close resemblance to those used in the espionage world.
As could be expected, the report is most interesting for what is not in it (which has been detailed in the recent Jansen & Janssen book "Opening van zaken"). Some new elements in the report can be seen as a reaction to earlier criticism, such as the more detailed paragraphs on the extreme right. They see potential for violence from both right-wing extremists and radical leftist protesters and anti-fascists.