Support Our Work Mailing list About / Contact

Belgium: Postmen "spies" project stopped

01 November 1996

Support our work: become a Friend of Statewatch from as little as £1/€1 per month.

The Belgian Postal Service has stopped the experiment to use postmen as informers for the Gendarmerie. It appears they were never been told about the local initiative in Louvain and they are being used in the ongoing "guerre des polices". Initially approached by Rijkswacht representatives for a project to enhance their personal safety, postmen were issued with report forms to send in their observations. The motivation behind this new "Project Information Exchange" was the fact that the willingness of Belgian civilians to act as informants to the police is steadily decreasing, whereas the pressure on the Gendarmerie to come up with better intelligence following numerous child abuse cases has increased. In the near future, bus drivers will also be "enlisted" to be the eyes and ears of the Gendarmerie. Minister of the Interior Mr Johan vande Lanotte regrets the Post Office's decision. He felt that it could be a good idea, and that the experiment should have been given a chance, so that it could be evaluated after a six-month trial period.

Our work is only possible with your support.
Become a Friend of Statewatch from as little as £1/€1 per month.

 Previous article

Belgium: Parliament censors report

Next article 

UK: Human radiation experiments revealed

 

Spotted an error? If you've spotted a problem with this page, just click once to let us know.

Report error

Statewatch does not have a corporate view, nor does it seek to create one, the views expressed are those of the author. Statewatch is not responsible for the content of external websites and inclusion of a link does not constitute an endorsement. Registered UK charity number: 1154784. Registered UK company number: 08480724. Registered company name: The Libertarian Research & Education Trust. Registered office: MayDay Rooms, 88 Fleet Street, London EC4Y 1DH. © Statewatch ISSN 1756-851X. Personal usage as private individuals "fair dealing" is allowed. We also welcome links to material on our site. Usage by those working for organisations is allowed only if the organisation holds an appropriate licence from the relevant reprographic rights organisation (eg: Copyright Licensing Agency in the UK) with such usage being subject to the terms and conditions of that licence and to local copyright law.

About | Contact | Privacy Policy