List of secret police organizations - Definition

Former Soviet Union

• The Presidential Guard in Aleksandr Lukashenkos Belarus
• The Federal Security Service (FSB), formerly the Federal Security Service (FSK), of the Russian Federation, which has been accused of using the tactics of the former KGB.
• The Ministry of State Security in Saparmurat Niyazovs Turkmenistan
• The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), and also the local Militsya in Ukraine are thought of as fitting the definition of secret police forces.

Historical

• The Okhranka of Imperial Russia, prior to the Bolshevik Revolution
• The secret police of the Soviet Union went though many names and phases

Europe

• The SRI (Serviciul Roman de Informatii) in Romania, which is considered by some to still use some of the Securitate's methods
• The Special Branch of the British police, which functions as the executive arm of MI5

Historical

• The Sigurimi in communist-ruled Albania
• The StB (Státní bezpečnost) in communist-ruled Czechoslovakia
• The Gestapo (Geheime Staatspolizei) in Nazi Germany
• The Stasi (Ministerium für Staatssicherheit) in East Germany
• The AVO (Allamvedélmi Osztály), succeeded by the AVH (Allamvedélmi Hatosag), in communist-ruled Hungary before the 1956 revolution
• The OVRA (Organizzazione di Vigilanza Repressione dell'Antifascismo) in fascist-ruled Italy
• The UB (Urzad Bezpieczenstwa), succeeded by the SB (Sluzba Bezpieczenstwa), in communist-ruled Poland
• The PVDE (Policia de Vigilância e de Defesa do Estado), PIDE (Polícia Internacional e de Defesa do Estado), and DGS (Direcção Geral de Segurança) in Portugal during the Estado Novo
• The Securitate (Departamentul Securitatii Statului) in communist-ruled Romania
• The UDB (Uprava drzavne bezbednosti), succeeded by the SDB (Sluzba drzavne bezbednosti), in communist Yugoslavia under Tito and Slobodan Milosevic. Also the UDBA fits in there somewhere.

Middle East

• VEVAK (Vezarat-e Ettela'at va Amniat-e Keshvar) and the Pasdaran (Revolutionary Guards) in modern Iran
• The Mudiriyat al-Amn al-Amma in current Iraq
• Shin Bet (Sherut ha-Bitachon ha-Klali) in Israel

Historical

• SAVAK (Sazeman-i Ettelaat va Amniyat-i Keshvar) in pre-revolutionary Iran under the Shah
• The Mukhabarat in Iraq under Saddam Hussein

Rest of Asia

• The Ministry of State Security in the People's Republic of China
• KOPKAMTIB (Kommando Operasi Pemulihan Keamanan dan Ketertiba) in Indonesia
• The State Safety and Security Agency, previously the State Security Department and State Security Agency, in North Korea
• The National Security Service in the Maldives
• The MISG (Military Intelligence and Security Group) in the Philippines

Historical

• The KHAD (Khedemat-e Atla't Dawlati) in Soviet-occupied Afghanistan
• The Kempeitai in Imperial Japan
• The KCIA (Korea Central Intelligence Agency), succeeded by the ANSP (Agency for National Security Planning), in South Korea. The ANSP still exists, but is no longer regarded as a secret police force.

Latin America

Historical

• The SERC (Seccion Especial de Repression del Comunismo) in Argentina before Juan Perón
• The DIPA (División de Información Politicas Antidemocráticus) in Argentina under Perón and the subsequent military Junta
• The SES (Servicio Especial de Seguridad) in Bolivia
• The DOI-CODI (Departamento de Operações Internas-Centro de Operações de Defesa Interna) and SNI (Serviço Nacional de Informações) in Brazil
• The DINA (Dirección Nacional de Inteligencia), succeeded by the CNI (Centro Nacional de Información), under Augusto Pinochet's military dictatorship in Chile
• The Policía Judicial in Guatemala under Alfredo Enrique Peralta Azurdia
• The PMA (Policía Militar Ambulate) and Guardia de Hacienda in Guatemala under Julio César Méndez Montenegro
• The ESA (Ejército Secreto Anti-Comunista) and Centro de Servicios Especiales de la Presidencia in Guatemala
• The DNI (Departamento Nacional de Investigaciones) in Honduras
• The DIPD (División de Investigaciones para la Prevención de la Delincuencia) in Mexico
• The DGSE (Dirección General de Seguridad del Estado) in Nicaragua
• The División Téchnica de Represión del Comunismo of the DIPC (Departamento de Investigaciones de la Policía) in Paraguay
• The Seguridad del Estado and the División Contra el Terrorismo in Peru
• The ORDEN (Organización Democrática Nacionalista), succeeded by the FDN (Frente Democrático Nacionalista), in El Salvador
• The Organismo Coordinador de Actividades Anti-Subversivas in Uruguay

Caribbean and North America

Historical

• The VSN (Volontaires de la sécurité nationale), better known as the Ton Ton Macoute, in Haiti under François Duvalier (Papa Doc)
• The FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) in the United States (especially under the administration of J. Edgar Hoover)

Africa

• The BMM (Brigade Mixte Mobile) in Cameroon
• The USP in the Central African Republic
• The DEMIAP (Détection Militaire des Activités Anti-Patrie) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
• The DGSE (Direction Générale de la Sécurité d'Etat) in the Republic of the Congo
• The Presidential Investigations Unit in the Côte d'Ivoire
• The Brigade Spéciale de Recherche de la Gendarmerie and the SDS (Service de Documentation et de Sécurité) in Djibouti
• The CRID (Central Revolutionary Investigation Department) in Ethiopia
• The NIA (National Intelligence Agency) in the Gambia
• The BNI (Bureau of National Investigations) in Ghana
• The SSS (State Security Service) and Special Bodyguard Unit in Nigeria
• The CIO (Central Intelligence Organization) in Zimbabwe

Historical

• The DISA (Direcção de Informação e Segurança de Angola) in MPLA-ruled Angola
• The Centre National d'Etude et de Recherche in Cameroon
• The DDS (Direction de la Documentation et de la Sécurité) in Chad under Hissène Habré
• Koevoet in South African-ruled Namibia
• The NSO (Nigerian Security Organisation) in Nigeria under the Buhari regime
• The SCR (Service Central de Renseignements) in Rwanda
• BOSS (Bureau of State Security) in apartheid South Africa
• The Public Safety Unit and the Bureau of State Research in Idi Amin's Uganda

Fictional secret police forces

• The Thought Police from George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four
• Section 31 from Star Trek - Federation
• The Tal Shiar from Star Trek - Romulan secret police
• The Obsidian Order from Star Trek - Cardassian secret police
• The Cable Street Particulars from the Discworld - Ankh-Morpork secret police (under Captain Swing)
• The Nightwatch from Babylon 5 - Earth Alliance secret police
• Psi Corps from Babylon 5 - Earth Alliance secret police composed of telepaths, essentially "Thought Police", often working in tandem with the Nightwatch. They possess obvious references to the TV show The Prisoner and the Gestapo, which several characters comment on within the series ("...what are you up to today? Annexing Sudetenland?")
• The Inquisition from Warhammer 40,000 - Imperial secret police similar to the Spanish Inquisition
• The Finger, the secret police of Norsefire, the fascist government of England, in V for Vendetta
• ZEP, the secret police of Taschist Borduria in the Tintin adventures

Related articles

• Police
• Secret police
• Secret service
• Intelligence agency
• List of intelligence agencies
• List of law enforcement agencies
• Star Chamber
• League of the Holy Court (Vehmgericht)
• Inquisition
• Surveillance
• Mass surveillance
• Menwith Hill