UDBA
"UDBA" is the colloquial term for the Yugoslav State Security after World War Two (officially Uprava državne bezbednosti, UDB: Administration of State Security)
The UDB, belonging to the ministry of the interior, was formed in March 1946 in succession of the “Department for the Protection of the People” (Odeljenje za zaštitu naroda, OZN). Being the domestic secret police, it played an important role in securing the Communist power.[1] Although each of the six component republics of the federal Yugoslav state had her own UDB, during the first two decades the state security organs were dominated by its headquarters in Belgrade.[2] From 1948 to 1952, as tensions between Yugoslavia and the Soviet bloc grew, some 300 officers of the UDB were convicted for being Stalinists.[3]
The UDB was organized into eight departments: 1. Intelligence 2. Political (struggle against internal enemy) 3. Counter-intelligence 4. Relations and Keeping of Records 5. Material and Technical Protection and Financial Affairs 6. Counter-intelligence Protection (State and Party Officials) 7. Cryptography 8. Personnel[4]
In 1964, the name was changed to Service of State Security (Serbian: Služba državne bezbednosti, SDB/ Croatian: Služba državne sigurnosti, SDS/ Slovenian: Služba državne varnosti, SDV) with the intention of limiting the State Security prerogatives.[5] At the plenum of the Central Committee in July 1966, the political leadership accused the SDB of hindering reforms towards self-administration. As a result, the SDB was decentralized, its personnel reduced (especially on the federal level) and control commissions established. New regulations were issued, strengthening the independent initiative of the state security services of the six Yugoslav republics and the autonomous provinces. The SDB was deprived of executive functions and entrusted with identifying and preventing hostile activities.[6]
The SDB was divided into organizational units for different tasks: 1. Foreign Intelligence Services 2. The Enemy Emigration 3. The Internal enemy 4. Translation 5. Research, Analysis, Reporting 7. Counterintelligence Protection of Federal Institutions 8. Computerization 9. Surveillance Technique 10. Surveillance of Foreign Diplomats in Belgrade 11. Secret Surveillance 12. Cooperation with Foreign Intelligence Services 13. Administration[7]
The SDB organized targeted killings of emigrants who were suspected of terrorism.[8] In 1986, the SDB of Bosnia-Herzegovina had 589 employees and conducted the surveillance of 1,052 persons (499 as part of the “hostile emigration”, 430 as “internal enemies” and 123 for espionage).[9]
References[edit]
- ↑ Dobrivojević, Ivana: Living under Dictatorship. Oppressive Practices in Yugoslavia, in: Istraživanja 27 (2016), pp. 225-240.
- ↑ Milošević, Milan: Organizacija bezbednosno-obaveštajnog sistema FNRJ (1946-1966), in: Bezbednost 3/2007, pp. 168-181.
- ↑ Radelić, Zdenko: Pripadnici Udbe u Hrvatskoj osuđeni zbog Informbiroa, in: ČSP 2/2010, pp. 367-412.
- ↑ Bezbednosno-informativna agencija (BIA), Belgrade: Istorijat
- ↑ Spehnjak, Katarina: "Brionski plenum"- odjeci IV. sjednice CK SKJ iz srpnja 1966. godine u hrvatskoj političkoj javnosti, in: ČSP 3/1999, pp. 463-489.
- ↑ Robionek, Bernd: State Security out of Control? The Influence of Yugoslavia's Political Leadership on Targeted Killings abroad (1967-84), in: OEZB Working Paper, March 2020.
- ↑ Akrap, Gordan/ Tudjman, Miroslav: From Totalitarian to Democratic Intelligence Community – Case of Croatia (1990-2014), in: National Security and the Future 2/2014, pp. 74-132.
- ↑ Cvetković, Srdjan: Terorizam i jugoslovenska politička emigracija, in: Istorija 20. veka 2/2014, pp. 171-197.
- ↑ Lučić, Ivica: Sigurnosno obavještajne službe u Bosni i Hercegovini, in: National Security and the Future 1/2001.
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