From: jkp@cs.HUT.FI (Jyrki Kuoppala)
Subject: Re: news: items on Dutch policing, security, immigration Jul-Aug 92
Reply-To: jkp@cs.HUT.FI (Jyrki Kuoppala)
Organization: Helsinki University of Technology, Finland
Date: Sat, 12 Sep 1992 00:01:54 GMT

In article <1992Sep11.193056.291@mont.cs.missouri.edu>, Gert van Velzen <gertv%ooc writes:

[ much deleted ]

>***
>
>The number of phone tapping warrants issued to the Dutch
>police has again increased in 1991 to 2071 cases, 888 of which
>were drug-related. One warrant can cover several subscribers,
>the average being almost two per warrant. The police notices
>that criminals show an increasing awareness of the risks of
>discussing sensitive matters over the phone, and many of them
>resort to using faxes, computer communication or encryption
>equipment. Cellular car phones are also popular, since they
>are more difficult to monitor permanently, as is the new PTT
>service of switching incoming calls to another subscriber, the
>so-called "follow-me" system. PTT has recently adapted this
>service to allow police to monitor such calls, but Justice
>Department officials still complain that the privatized phone
>company increasingly fails to take their needs into account
>when offering new communication services to the public. The
>new ISDN-network now being implemented and the Europe-wide car
>phone network to be opened in 1994 are mentioned as examples
>of "intraceable communication channels".
>
>PTT Telecom has started logging detailed traffic data on all
>telephone calls, thus preparing for a new customer service to
>be introduced next year that will allow detailed bills listing
>all calls made from a subscriber's connection. Over 300,000
>subscribers such as journalists, lawyers and aid services,
>have already indicated they want to use the option of not
>having their number listed on other people's bills, but these
>data will still be kept on a database accessible by a.o. the
>justice department. Press representatives have already voiced
>concern over the possibly unlimited access of authorities to
>the PTT database, which will allow them to locate confidential
>sources of journalists and whistleblowers informing on dubious
>political or corruption practices.
>Numbers not listed in the phone directory and secret numbers
>will not show up in any bill. Standard bills will only list
>the costs by category. Customers wanting detailed bills
>listing all numbers called pay 1.5 p extra per call. The Dutch
>phone company claims the option of screening off phone numbers
>is unique in the world.
>
>On July 14, the well-known Dutch lawyer Mr. P. Doedens stated
>in a Den Bosch court that his client, accused of dealing in
>XTC pills, has been the victim of an illegal audio
>surveillance operation by the narcotics police. Since the
>recent Dutch Supreme Court ruling that allowed police
>monitoring of conversations in a room by means of telephones
>that were accidently not hung up properly, a great number of
>cases against drug dealers have been carried through on the
>basis of evidence collected in this way. Mr. Doedens claimed
>this has happened too often to be merely a coincidence, and
>called on a telephone expert, Mr. Rop Gonggrijp, to clarify
>this matter. Mr. Gonggrijp testified in court that it is
>possible to remotely switch on the microphone of almost any
>telephone while the receiver is still in its cradle, without
>having to tamper with the telephone itself. This can be done
>from any place between the telephone and the telephone
>exchange by putting a high-frequency carrier (approx. 100-150
>khz) on the line which turns the telephone switch into a
>capacitor, thus enabling the microphone signal to be passed on
>to the exchange. Mr. Gonggrijp described an experiment, in
>which he succeeded in monitoring conversations in his own
>living room from a remote place using the high-frequency
>technique. He announced the publication of both the necessary
>equipment for the monitoring and the circuitry that would
>detect a HF carrier signal on a line. Former policeman Mr. A.
>Velraath, also called upon by Mr. Doedens to testify,
>confirmed that several former colleagues and a PTT employee
>had ensured him that the legal procedures for telephone
>monitoring were regularly bypassed, but that none of these
>still-serving functionaries dared to testify in court for fear
>of their jobs.
>This technique, called "radio frequency flooding", is well-
>known among activists since the late 1970s, when the British
>security services used it on PIRA targets. It seems to be
>quite difficult to obtain a sufficient sound quality to enable
>useful monitoring, and the obvious protection against it is
>simply pulling the plug before commencing any sensitive
>conversations. According to our own information, British MI5
>applied this technique in the 1950s under the cryptonym
>CABMAN.
>Mr. Gonggrijp's demonstration forced PTT technicians, after
>initial denials in court, finally to confirm the technical
>feasability of the "radio frequency flooding" technique. PTT
>officials claim that operational usage of the technique by the
>police is highly unlikely (apart from it being illegal)
>because of its unreliability. A PTT ad hoc research committee
>established to investigate Mr. Gonggrijp's accusations did
>succeed in an experiment involving the monitoring of a
>telephone remotely from the telephone exchange. PTT Telecom
>now markets special plugs with a build-in capacitor to shield
>any HF-signals on the line. The PTT chooses a 0.33 nanofarad
>capacitor, radio amateurs advise using a 10 nf value.
>The court however, decided to ignore all the technicalities
>and allowed the evidence gathered by what the police claimed
>were conversations overheard while "telephones were
>accidentally left off the hook".

[ deleted ]

This seems remarkable.

[ deleted ]

>Dutch banks report dfl 167 million on "dubious" transactions
>
>In the first five months since the beginning of the
>"gentleman's agreement" between banks and the police in
>January 1992 to report all "unusual transactions", incidents
>totalling dfl 167 million (approx. BP 50 million) have been
>registered, according to a CRI (Centrale Recherche
>Informatiedienst, central criminal intelligence service)
>spokesman. An estimated 80 percent of the banks and exchange
>offices keep to the agreement, but branch offices of foreign
>banks do not participate. Therefore, the actual amount
>involved in "unusual transactions" is believed to be
>substantially higher.
>Since January 1, banking activities connected to money
>laundering are liable to punishment, and all financial
>transactions involving large amounts of cash in small
>denominations or those carried out by persons behaving
>conspicuously should be reported by regular banks. Police
>officials are increasingly worried about the growing number of
>small exchange offices in the larger cities. In Amsterdam
>only, some 50 such offices have opened lately. Almost anyone
>can start such a business, since the exchanging of currencies
>is not considered a banking activity and is therefore not
>subject to any financial control. "If you see the number of
>these offices and you count the number of tourists, it is
>quite clear that they can never live of the supply of money of
>those tourists alone", the CRI spokesman says. "In these
>exchange offices the first step in the laundering process is
>often made".
>***
>
>HAVANK fingerprints database identifies racist bomber.
>
>A series of bomb attacks on migrant houses and businesses in
>The Hague has been solved by tracing a fingerprint, left on a
>bomb that failed to detonate when placed on the site of a
>multi-cultural festival last July. The CRI's HAVANK database,
>containing data on 600,000 individuals with previous police
>contacts, took 23 minutes to make a connection, instead of the
>average 10 man-years that a manual search used to take. The
>system, operational since 1990, has been used in 812 incidents
>last year to identify an anonymous fingerprint left on the
>scene of a crime. The 35-year old The Hague suspect has been
>arrested and made a confession. Initial research indicates no
>substantial connection to organized extremist right-wing
>circles.
>***
>
>The Dutch central criminal intelligence service CRI writes in
>its annual report over 1991 that while an estimated 600
>criminal gangs involved in serious and organized crime are now
>operating in Holland, there is at present no indication of
>Italian Mafia activities. Police in France, Germany and
>Belgium do report increasing Mafia presence within their
>borders. In Holland, most of the perpetrators are still from
>Colombian (cocaine) and Turkish (heroin) origins, although the
>increase in criminal activities in Middle and East-Europe is a
>reason for concern. The CRI does not believe the lifting of
>border controls in 1993 will lead to an increase in "mafia-
>like" organizations in Holland. "They do not care about the
>present border checks", a CRI spokesman said. The police even
>expects it will benefit from the 1993 measures, as it will
>necessitate a better cooperation and bring about an improved
>information exchange.
>***
>
>Obligatory identification bill presented
>
>The Dutch government has presented a bill requiring persons in
>certain categories and situations to identify themselves to
>government functionaries. Parliament is expected to discuss
>the matter in October.
>In the following situations citizens are required to identify
>themselves upon request:
>- the use of public transport without a valid ticket;
>- at soccer matches in the event of punishable acts or
>disturbances of public order;
>- when applying for a social-fiscal identification number;
>- when accepting a job, toward an employer;
>- at certain financial transactions, e.g. at banks;
>- when having an act drawn up by a notary's office;
>- at work in case of controls related to social security and
>illegal employment;
>- in case of inspections by the Alien Branch for illegal
>residence.
>***
>
>Ministry of Justice demands veto over dissertation
>
>The Dutch Ministry of Justice has asked a court to oblige
>academic researcher Mr. Anil Ramdas to present all his
>publications, including a Ph.D. study, to a Ministry screening
>board before publication. Mr. Ramdas attended closed meetings
>of the advise commission for Alien Affairs in 1988, in which
>the commission hears asylum seekers whose requests have been
>turned down. Last year, Amnesty International asked Mr. Ramdas
>to give a talk describing his experiences with the appeal
>procedures, after which the Justice Department started summary
>proceedings to withhold Mr. Ramdas from disclosing
>confidential information. The researcher described the appeal
>procedures, which in some 4 percent of the cases lead to a
>review, as a "tragic ritual" in which a body incapable of
>dealing with all requests goes through the motions just to
>allow the Dutch public a certain peace of mind. The Ministry
>of Justice states that dozens of researchers are allowed
>access to confidential procedures and situations. They all
>sign confidentiality agreements, and this is the first time
>anyone chooses to violate them.
>After studying the rather vague confidentiality agreement that
>Mr. Ramdas signed before commencing his research, the judge
>last year allowed him to continue with his publications in a
>"responsible manner". A ruling to which the Ministry of
>Justice has now appealed.
>Mr. Ramdas, who expects to finish his dissertation next year,
>agrees to present it to the advisory commission before
>publication to allow discussion over disagreements. "This is
>my interpretation of the agreements. But I know that Justice
>holds a different view: they want a veto over it", says Mr.
>Ramdas, who feels that confidentiality is enforced in this
>case to avoid a critical presentation of sensitive practices.
>He denies painting a negative picture. "My research is all
>about the question how a society holding humanitarian ideals
>can turn against the coming of migrants and asylum seekers.
>One of my explanations is that the welfare state has limited
>capacities. The treatment of asylum requests takes place in a
>situation of impotence. This results in a ritual which allows
>politics to stay out of the process while giving the asylum
>seekers the impression that they get a fair chance."
>
> * Activist Press Service, Amsterdam NL, bbs +31-20-6842147

//Jyrki
Newsgroups: alt.privacy