Holland: counter report on BVD (1)
01 January 1991
Holland: counter report on BVD
artdoc August=1993
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.
Statewatch vol 3 no 4 July-August 1993