Belgian State Security Service

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The Belgian State Security Service, known in Dutch as Veiligheid van de Staat, or Staatsveiligheid (SV), and in French as Sûreté de l'État (SE), is a civilian agency under the Ministry of Justice. There also exists in Belgium an intelligence service under responsibility of the Minister of National Defense, which is called the Belgian General Information and Security Service. Alain Winants is currently director of State Security, after Koen Dassen resigned amidst the controversy over State Security losing sight of suspected Kurdish terrorist Fehriye Erdal.

1 Tasks
2 Directors
3 Parliamentary supervision
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Tasks

The main objective of State Security is the collection, analyzing and processing of all intelligence that might prove relevant to the prevention of any activity that might be a threat against the internal or external security of the state, the democratic and constitutional order and international relations, to carry out security inquiries, and to perform tasks in relation to the protection of certain people.

[edit] Directors

Alain Winants (October 27, 2006 - )
Koen Dassen (September 2002 - February 2006)
Godelieve Timmermans (June 2000 - August 2002)
Bart van Lijsebeth (1994 - September 1999)
Stephane Schewebach (1990-1993, ad interim)
Albert Raes (1977 - June 1990)
Ludovicus Caeymaex (1958-1977)
Fernand Lepage (1940-1944)
Robert De Foy (1933 - 1940; 1945-1958)

[edit] Parliamentary supervision

During the 1980's, a number of incidents including the Walloon Brabant supermarket killings, the activities of terrorist groups such as the Combatant Communist Cells and the neo-Nazist Westland New Post brought attention and criticism to the activities and ineffectiveness of the nation’s police and intelligence agencies.

In 1991, following two government enquiries, a permanent parliamentary committee, Comité I, was established to bring these agencies, not previously subject to any outside control, under the authority of Belgium’s federal parliament. Legislation governing the missions and methods of these agencies was put in place in 1998.