<
https://theconversation.com/how-ice-is-becoming-a-secret-police-force-under-the-trump-administration-255019>
"Secret police are a quintessential feature of authoritarian regimes. From
Azerbaijan’s State Security Service to Zimbabwe’s Central Intelligence
Organisation, these agencies typically target political opponents and
dissidents through covert surveillance, imprisonment and physical violence.
In contrast to the regular police and armed forces, secret police primarily use
preemptive repression to thwart threats to the government.
In Nazi Germany, for example, Gestapo informants penetrated all levels of
society, producing an atmosphere of distrust among those against Adolf Hitler.
In Uganda, Idi Amin’s State Research Bureau employed sophisticated spying
equipment and intercepted mail at the post office to root out supposed
saboteurs.
In Syria, Bashar al-Assad relied on the General Intelligence Directorate to
oversee a network of torture centres. And in Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro has used
the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (Sebin) to spy on opponents
overseas, often running operations out of diplomatic missions.
Since US President Donald Trump took power in January, Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) has become a far more visible and fearsome force on American
streets.
Though ICE is ostensibly still bound by constitutional limits, the way it has
been operating bears the hallmarks of a secret police force in the making.
As an expert on authoritarian regimes, I’ve studied historical and contemporary
secret police forces extensively across Africa, Asia and Europe. They typically
meet five criteria:
* they’re a police force targeting political opponents and dissidents
* they’re not controlled by other security agencies and answer directly to the
dictator
* the identity of their members and their operations are secret
* they specialise in political intelligence and surveillance operations
* they carry out arbitrary searches, arrests, interrogations, indefinite
detentions, disappearances and torture.
How close is ICE to becoming a secret police force? Let’s consider each of
these criteria."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
