De Snuffelstaat
Buro Jansen en Janssen
223 pages including index
published in 2002
Buro Jansen en Janssen -named after the bumbling detective duo from the Tintin comics- is a Dutch leftwing collective which has set itself the goal of critically following the various Dutch police forces and intelligence services, as well as commenting on any new legislation that intrudes on civil rights. It was founded in 1984, as a response
to the continuing harassement of leftwing groups as well as the squatters movement by the police and the intelligence services. Since then the buro has gotten a good reputation as a civil liberties watchdog, bringing out publications under its own name as well as supporting journalists writing on these issues and directly helping people caught up in intelligence service or police operations where appropriate.
The Snuffelstaat, best translated as The Snooping State, is one result of the buro’s work, an overview of how the main Dutch intelligence service, originally called the BVD (Binnenlandse Veiligheids Dienst; internal security service), from 2002 onwards the AIVD (Algemene Inlichtingen en Veiligheids Dienst; general intelligence and security service) functions and the impact it has on Dutch politics as well as ordinary Dutch people. The Snuffelstaat is intended as a snapshot of the work of the BVD, its methods, ties to other intelligence services and networks in Holland and abroad and the legislation surrounding the work of the intelligence services in the Netherlands.
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