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The Kaitsepolitsei (Security Police, KAPO for short) is the central security institution of Republic of Estonia, which is occasionally referred to as the Estonian secret police. Its purposes are centered around enforcing constitutional order. Kaitsepolitsei has primary investigative jurisdiction in some offences committed by state officials; countering terrorism; incitement to hatred; crimes against humanity and peace, including war crimes; the illegal handling and trafficking of explosives, radio active material, firearms, ammunition or other strategic materials; and the protection of state secrets. It also fills counterintelligence duties.

Kaitsepolitsei is administered as an agency of the Estonian Ministry of Internal Affairs.

While a lot of Kaitsepolitsei's activities are classified, its overview of the status of national security is published yearly as the Kaitsepolitsei aastaraamat.

History

Kaitsepolitseiamet was established on April 12, 1920 by the Government Of Estonia. From 1925 to 1940 the institution was known as Poliitiline politsei (abbreviated PolPol). The PolPol fought against subversive activities of left-wing and right-wing extremists, espionage, desertion, smuggling and terrorism. The most important targets were the Estonian communists whose party was illegal, forcing them to operate clandestinely and through various legal (pro-communist) workers' organisations. Communists were supported by the Soviet Union, who had publicly accepted the principles not recognizing the parliamentary order, seeing terrorism as a legitimate activity. Similarly, the PolPol surveyed pro-Nazi oriented Baltic Germans and extreme monarchists of the White Russian emigres.

When the Soviet Union annexed Estonia in June 17, 1940 the PolPol was one of the first institutions which was practically in corpore repressed. During the 1940s, the organization was resuscitated under the German occupation to fight against "Bolshevism." Assisting the German occupation forces, the Estonian Political Police carried out the murder of Estonian Jewry.

Re-establishment

The institution was re-established as Kaitsepolitseiamet in March 1, 1991, during the collapse of the Soviet Union and the process of Estonia regaining its independence, as a department of the Estonian Police (Politseiamet). It began operating as a separate institution in June 18, 1993. According to the law of security services, which took effect on March 1, 2001, the status of the Kaitsepolitseiamet changed from a police institution to a security service.

According to an Amnesty International report from 2009: "In June, the Estonian Security Police Board published its annual report which made serious allegations against the Legal Information Centre for Human Rights (LICHR), an NGO promoting and defending the rights of those belonging to linguistic minorities. The report stated that the LICHR was used by the Russian Federation to carry out scientific research for propaganda purposes, and accused the LICHR of trying to conceal the specific sources of funding it received from the Russian Federation. These allegations were widely seen as an attempt by the government to misrepresent the LICHR and to undermine its attempts to secure the necessary financial and social support to carry out its work."

Criticism against KAPO has been presented Risto Teinonen, a Finnish lawyer and neo-Nazi living in Tallinn. In 2009, Teinonen launched criminal proceedings against KAPO in a Tallinn court, accusing the organization of politically motivated persecution of innocent people.

References

1. Made, Vahur. "Estonia and the Iraqi Crisis". Estonian School of Diplomacy. Retrieved 6 June 2009.
2. "Estonian Secret Services Fear Possible Terrorist Attack". Axis Information and Analysis. 14 May 2005. Retrieved 6 June 2009.
3. "Eurasian Secret Services Daily Review". Axis Information and Analysis. 20 June 2008. Retrieved 6 June 2009.
4. "Vol. 1, No. 21, Part II". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 29 April 1997. Retrieved 6 June 2009.
5. Alvarez, Steve. "Small Nation Helps Build Democracy in Iraq". American Forces Press Service. 1 February 2006. Retrieved 6 June 2009.
6. "NATO Formulating a New Strategic Concept". Basic Reports: Newsletter on International Security Policy. No. 66. 23 October 1998. ISSN 0966-9175. Retrieved 6 June 2009.
7. "Осторожно, вас вербуют!" ("Careful, You're Being Recruited!") Telegraf. Kompromat.lv. Retrieved 6 June 2009.
8. http://www.kapo.ee/eng_ajalugu_ja_symboolika.html
9. Zuroff, Efraim. "Sweden's Refusal to Prosecute Nazi War Criminals: 1986-2002". Jewish Political Studies Review 14:3-4 (Fall 2002). Institute for Global Jewish Affairs. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
10. "Amnesty International Report 2009". Amnesty International. 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-05.
11. ^ Finnish Neo-Nazi Sues Estonian Security Police
12. Bäckman, Johan (2008). "Naamiaiset". Pronssisoturi. Tallinn: Tarbeinfo.
13. "Simm stripped of honors". Baltic Times. 13 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-02.

External links

• The web page of the Kaitsepolitseiamet
• Julgeolekuasutuste Seadus, Riigi Teataja I 2001, 7, 17

59°25′52″N 24°44′15″E / 59.431°N 24.7375°E / 59.431; 24.7375

• Counter-intelligence agencies
• Intelligence agencies
• Secret police
• Law enforcement agencies of Estonia