Belgium's Newest Anti-Terrorism Tool

UNCLAS BRUSSELS 001022

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: BE PGOV PTER
SUBJECT: Belgium's Newest Anti-Terrorism Tool


1. (SBU) The Belgian House of Representatives has
approved the creation of a new tool for combatting
terrorism, the "Coordination Agency for Analyzing
Threats" also known as "OCAM" (or "OCAD" in Dutch). The
decision follows about eighteen months of debate; the
Senate's pro forma approval is expected shortly. The new
agency will centralize all relevant security information
and assess all potential threats, enhancing the current
"Interforces Anti-Terrorism Group" (GIA),which has
spearheaded Belgium's anti-terrorism drive since the
early nineties. OCAM should be operational by the end of
the year, according to officials in the Interior Ministry
and the Prime Minister's Office.


2. (SBU) Belgium's experience in establishing a
clearinghouse of information sharing on terrorism
mirrored developments in other western countries,
including the U.S. As more Belgian ministries and
agencies became involved in the war on terror, an acute
need grew for an agency to centralize security and threat
information. OCAM will have a staff of approximately 50
people, recruited from among the police and intelligence
services, as well as several other agencies - the
Finance, Interior, Transportation, and Foreign Affairs
Ministries, and the Customs and the Immigration Office.
OCAM will operate under the joint control of the Interior
and Justice Ministers and be headed by an as yet
unidentified magistrate. The Ministerial Committee for
Intelligence and Security, a committee composed of
leading ministers and chaired by the Prime Minister, will
determine the agency's agenda.


3. (U) Implementing anti-terror policy will remain the
exclusive domain of the federal police, the courts, and
relevant ministerial departments. In drafting this new
legislation, the Belgian government has sought to create
a system requiring all officials and services involved in
counterterrorism to supply relevant information to OCAM.
Under the new law, withholding information will become a
violation of the criminal code. The new agency will
share information with responsible ministers, the courts,
and federal magistrates, as well as the Belgian Crisis
Center. The parliamentary oversight will be conducted
jointly by the existing parliamentary watchdog Committees
"I" for intelligence and "P" for police. Attempts to
obtain direct parliamentary control over the new agency
failed, but legislators plan an additional bill
clarifying their role.



4. (SBU) Legal requirements for channeling information to
OCAM has raised serious issues for Belgium's State
Security agency, the Surete, which previously considered
itself as having a special role in combating terrorism.
Koen Dassen, Surete head at the time the bill was
debated, warned lawmakers that under the prevailing
"third party rule" it was not always possible for Surete
to share information when the information comes from
foreign intelligence services. Dassen's superiors,
including Justice Minister Laurette Onkelinx, countered
by saying OCAM would operate similarly to the British
Joint Terrorism Analysis Center by having all appropriate
protections for classified material.


5. (SBU) Comment: Plans to create OCAM contributed to
the firing of Surete Director General Dassen earlier this
year. The issue also prompted an appeal by Flemish
Socialist party leader Johan Vande Lanotte, who called
limitations on the Surete's autonomy and its eventual
integration into the Federal Police. This step does not
appear likely, at least over the short-term. End Comment
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