Clearer than ever before…
by Wolf-Dieter Narr
In July, three official reports – two from the U.S. and one from Great Britain – documented the failure of security services. Neither in the case of „11 September“, nor with regard to the Iraq war, have they been able to provide correct information. Secret services are intrinsically linked to the history of the modern state. They are the institutionalised contradiction to democratic constitutions, which no parliamentary control commission and legal regulation will ever solve. Instead of accepting never ending lies of legitimation, we should finally abolish them.

„Security architecture“: Construction site of state security
by Heiner Busch
The threat of international terrorism forces the state to reassess its „security architecture“, according to the spokespeople of all established political parties. The architects are currently discussing even more cooperation between the security services and police, as well as the centralisation of „security authorities“. The present debate has to be understood in relation to the development of security services since the end of the Cold War.

Coordination committees and information boards
by Stephan Stolle and Albrecht Maurer
Since the beginning of the 1990’s, security services, police and law enforcement agencies have developed new forms of cooperation. The aim: concrete cooperation and harmonisation of measures in certain areas of common interest. The constitutionally determined separation of police and security services has thereby developed into a systematic unification of both services.

The secret service and the fight against crime
by Fredrik Roggan
Regional Offices for the Protection of the Constitution (Verfassungsschutz – Germany’s internal security service) do not fall under the „principle of Legality“ (obligation to prosecute any offence which comes to their knowledge). Further, they have decades of experience in spying out whole communities and ’scenes‘ and possess comprehensive powers and secret service instruments. According to some regional politicians, this qualifies them to include the surveillance of „organised crime“ in their remits.

Young Democrats in secret service activities report
by Udo Kauß
Annual secret service reports are not merely an opinion on the politics of an organisation. They are rather an appeal to the public to isolate certain groups, an instruction to the remaining authorities and society as a whole, which can have serious consequences for those concerned. The case of the left-wing youth organisation JungdemokratInnen/Junge Linke (Young Democrats) is exemplary for how arbitrary the authorities‘ evaluations really are, and shows how carelessly they handle information.

The failure of parliamentary control
by Heiner Busch
In order for the parliamentary control of authorities to function properly, it requires unlimited access to information, adequate human resources and particularly the fresh wind of publicity. All this is not available to those scrutinising the secret services.

EU secret services and the fight against terrorism
by Mark Holzberger
After the Madrid attacks from 11 March 2004, the EU has given its anti-terrorism measures a new direction. In future, the EU does not only want to intensify the cooperation between police and secret services, but also strengthen the role of the military in the fight against terrorism.

The Dutch security services and asylum seekers
by Wil van der Schans
The Dutch internal security service, the General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD), promises refugees that working as an informant for them would positively influence their asylum procedure. A report by Jansen & Janssen from the end of 2003 shows how the service exploits the refugees‘ insecure situation and their ignorance of their rights.

Protests against the Iraq war and the coercion article
by Martin Singe
On 20 March 2003, the US and their allies began bombing Iraq. More than a year later, there is still no end in sight for the criminal proceedings initiated against people who protested against this war with sit-ins. The authorities are applying the coercion paragraph 240 of the German Criminal Code.

Preventative surveillance of telecommunications
by Fredrik Roggan
What has existed in criminal procedural law already since 1968, is now being introduced in the regional police regulations as well, namely, surveillance of telecommunications. With regard to the technical implementation, preventative surveillance works the same way as that laid down in criminal procedural law. Legally speaking, however, preventative surveillance is less about the investigation and prosecution of criminal acts or the prevention of current threats for life. Rather, preventative telecommunication surveillance serves to spy on whole groups of people.