|
|
|
1000 Sofia, 3 Krakra Str. tel. ++359 (2) 944 19 29, 975 39 24 www.141289.org E-mail: 141289@141289.org
to the minister OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS of the Republic of Bulgaria Mr. GEORGI PETKANOV
Dear Mr. minister,
Thirteen years after the beginning of democratic changes in this country the former Dăržavna sigurnost (State Security police) is on the rise. After it settled firmly in the shadow economy and in organized crime we can now witness how its former employees purposefully, and not without political protection, are occupying key positions in the state apparatus. We find that this is a tendency of grave negative consequences for the democratic process in Bulgaria. What is more, we are deeply convinced that the employees of the former Dăržavna sigurnost form the basis of the merger between organized crime and the political elite in this country. Some days ago, in open letters to the President Mr. Georgi Părvanov and to the Prime Minister Mr. Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha we had the opportunity to express our concern about the restoration of employees of Dăržavna sigurnost carried out in the services of order and security. Some of these services are part of the structure of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Therefore we appeal to you to dismiss their leaders as soon as possible and to substitute them with people whose professional career is not associated with the repressive organs of the communist regime. In our opinion, one of the most essential reasons for the rise of the former Dăržavna sigurnost is the lack of publicity concerning the scope of this organization and the way it functioned during the time of the communist regime. The illumination of the facts and events here will create new and efficient opportunities for control by both the citizens of this country and the official institutions. Such an approach would be the best possible answer to the recommendations that our country is receiving periodically in the process of preparation for NATO membership. We would like to emphasize that the latest of these recommendations came from the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and envisaged the necessity to recruit qualified pro-Western officers in the civil and intelligence agencies as well as the evolution of the political and social support for these agencies. We are convinced that even now, prior to the start of the real reform, the interest of the Bulgarian society in the activities of the communist secret services has to be entirely satisfied. The current Bulgarian legislation permits this. What we mean by this is the following: There is an act of the Bulgarian Parliament of October 13, 1994, according to which information concerning the organization, methods and expedients in the execution of the specific tasks by the organs of Dăržavna sigurnost (State Security), as well as information concerning the agents recruited in these organs related to the period up to October 13, 1991, does not constitute classified information of the Republic of Bulgaria. There is also an Instruction Concerning the Order of Giving Access to Information Contained in the Documents of the Archive of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, of June 24, 2002, signed by you. Entirely clear is also the Law for the Protection of Classified Information, according to which classifiable and subject to designation is solely information related the activities of the contemporary security agencies and services for maintaining social order, explicitly named. Another relevant fact is Decision No 974 (case No 11111/2002) of the Supreme Administrative Court of the Republic of Bulgaria of February 5, 2003. Within Decision No 974 the Supreme Administrative Court ruled that, according to the legislation in force in Bulgaria at the moment, information concerning the organization, methods and expedients in the execution of the specific tasks by the organs of Dăržavna sigurnost (State Security), as well as information concerning the agents recruited in these organs related to the period up to October 13, 1991, does not constitute classified information.
Dear Mr. Minister, In view of these circumstances, we find that it is our common duty – both of non-governmental organizations and state institutions – to inform the people about the activities of the repressive organs of the regime that was declared criminal by the 38th National Assembly of Bulgaria (Law for the Denunciation of the Communist Regime in Bulgaria as Criminal, published in Dăržaven vestnik [State Gazette], No 37 of May 5, 2000). Therefore, in view of what was stated above and on the basis of Art. 2 of your Instruction Concerning the Order of Giving Access to Information Contained in the Documents of the Archive of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, enclosing the relevant declarations and in our capacity as legal personality, the December 14 Civil Committee would like to be provided with written documents containing the following information: 1. The total number of employees of the Militia and the security organs, including civil ones, and the expenditure, including wages and salaries, of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and its affiliated military departments, for the fiscal years 1967, 1975, 1981 and 1989. 2. A list of all the departments of KDS (Komitet za dăržavna sigurnost ‘State Security Committee”) and Dăržavna sigurnost that existed up to 1967, including their structure, their aims, tasks and a description of their functions, of the independent affiliates and other subsidiaries and of the specialized army units. 3. A list containing the full three names, the military rank and short biographical data of all the heads and their deputies of all the departments of Komitet za dăržavna sigurnost and Dăržavna sigurnost enumerated above. 4. The average number of the staff of Komitet za dăržavna sigurnost and Dăržavna sigurnost for the fiscal years 1967, 1981 and 1989, including: – employees and regular staff working under cover in the embassies and trade offices of the Peoples’ Republic of Bulgaria, as well as for the representatives of state companies and correspondent offices of the mass media – employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs affiliated to Dăržavna sigurnost, the high administrative staff of the Ministry, of Upravlenie “Til” (the Rear Department), the examining magistrates’ apparatus, etc. – civil employees. 5. The budgets of Komitet za dăržavna sigurnost and Dăržavna sigurnost in their separate departments and independent affiliates, including additional (outside budget) financial means provided on the basis of decisions made by organs of the Bulgarian Communist Party and the Council of Ministers. 6. The total number of the secret servants recruited (agents, residents, holders of secret meeting places and conspiratorial lodgings) for the period 1967-1989 among Bulgarian citizens, as well as among foreign citizens of Bulgarian origin. 7. The total number of Bulgarian citizens and foreign citizens of Bulgarian origin that were objects of repression by the regime and by the so-called aktivni meroprijatija (‘active enterprises’) of Dăržavna sigurnost. 8. A list of the employees of Šesto upravlenie (Department No Six) of Dăržavna sigurnost from its establishment to its dismantling in 1990, including: military ranks, posts occupied, specialization (department), years of service, and the concrete department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. 9. A list containing the full three names, the military ranks, the post occupied, the affiliation to the respective unit and the years of service of all the regular employees who were directly involved in: – the secret transit trade with currency, gold, tobacco products, alcohol, etc. – the re-export of arms and munitions – control on drug trafficking – export of medicines placed under the control of the World Health Organization. – the export of goods with a possible second (military) use. 10. A list containing the full three names, the military ranks and the years of service of all the regular employees who were involved in: – the factories belonging to the military industrial complex – state factories, overseas companies and mixed companies involved in the import and export of arms and munitions, as well as goods with a possible second (military) use. 11. A list containing the full three names, the military ranks and the years of service of all the heads and their deputies of specialized scientific and developmental departments directly subordinated to or monitored by Dăržavna sigurnost such as, for example, the Institute of Psychology at the Ministry of Internal Affairs. 12. A list containing the full three names, the military ranks, the post occupied and the years of service of all regular employees, directly or indirectly involved in the preparation of terrorists under the disguise of the so-called help for other countries, political organizations or revolutionary movements. 13. A list containing the full three names, the military ranks, the post occupied and short biographical data of all the employees who completed courses taught by the KGB or the Glavno razuznavatelno upravlenie (Main Intelligence Department) of the High Command of the army of the former USSR. 14. A list containing the full three names, the military ranks, the post occupied and short biographical data of: – the advisors to the KGB or Glavno razuznavatelno upravlenie, i.e. the strategic intelligence agency of the former USSR – the residents attached to the different departments of Dăržavna sigurnost and the army intelligence and counterintelligence – the other representatives of the KGB and Glavno razuznavatelno upravlenie working as advisors and within the various departments, as well as those established with the consent of the Bulgarian authorities in the embassy, the consular and the trade offices of the former USSR. 15. A list containing the full three names, the military rank and the post occupied by: – all the heads and their deputies of the Visša specialna skola (Higher Special School) in the village of Simeonovo (a department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs) – all full-time and part-time lecturers at the State Security (Dăržavna sigurnost) Faculty at the Visša specialna skola (Higher Special School) in the village of Simeonovo.
Dear Mr. Minister, It is our conviction that this appeal and all the issues raised in it will be treated with understanding and collaboration – for the sake of a future good administration of Bulgaria, independent of the representatives of the discredited secret services of the communist regime.
Sofia, June 17, 2003
December 14 Civil Committee For the Managing Board:
Krum Slavov, Co-ordinator Jordan De Meo, Co-ordinator Plamen Darakčiev, Co-ordinator
Members: Anton Andreev, Asen Kănev, Vanja Manolova, Vjara Nikolova. Ivan Sepetliev, Doc. Ivajlo Petrov, Jordan Jankov, Krasimir Barosov, Krasimir Kabakčiev, Dr.Sc., Krasimir Mironov, Lidija Zareva, Marina Petkova, Prof. Milen Semkov, Prof. Mihail Konstantinov, Nančo Videv, Prof. Nikola Nikolov, Pejčo Peev, Petăr Donev, Petăr Markov
|