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The survey on military and intelligence archives and the Italian case
Giulia Barrera Directorate General of Archives (Italy) 30th EBNA conference Turin, 4 November 2014
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Why did we chose this topic?
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Great public interest over the archives of intelligence services
Repeated public calls for the end of secrecy and the opening of intelligence archives
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“Strategy of tension” (1969-74)
Bombs sow panic, in order to create the preconditions for an authoritarian regime Members of the intelligence services covered authors of such slaughters
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President of the Parliamentary Committee that monitors the activities of intelligence services, Massimo D’Alema (2010) The main sources available to historians about the activities of the Italian intelligence services come from judicial investigations regarding the crimes allegedly committed by some intelligence officers. Historians who study the Italian intelligence end up with writing histories of criminal acts. Only when the intelligence archives will be opened, President D’Alema concluded, the good work done by the Italian intelligence services will be able to come to light
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Law 124/2007 on intelligence services and on secrecy
It introduced the possibility of transferring Intelligence Agencies’ documents to State Archives Previously, only documents of the Intelligence Services of the Fascist period and Minister of Interior intelligence records had been transferred to State Archives
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Law 124/2007 on intelligence services and on secrecy
It does not dictate clear rules regarding the transferring Intelligence Services’ archives to State Archives The law leaves to a further decree the task of defining specific rules on the transfer of documents to State Archives The decree has been issued but it has been classified.
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April 2014: Directive by Prime Minister Renzi: → declassify and transfer to the State Archives documents on slaughter cases Already in 2008, a selection of intelligence documents regarding the kidnapping and killing of Christian Democracy President Aldo Moro by the Red brigades (1978) were transferred to the Archivio Centrale dello Stato Such initiatives are positive, since they are opening intelligence records to research However, selections of documents are not sufficient for historical research
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The cold war ended 25 years ago
The times are ripe for starting to declassify post-WWII intelligence and military archives on a regular basis
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The Carabinieri They are a police corps, but are part of the Armed Forces They exist since national unification, and played a key role in national history
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The Carabinieri Only very recently did they start setting up historical archives. Previously, they run a Museum on their own history and their Historical Branch preserved a collection of documents Much of their archives got lost
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The Police Unlike the Carabinieri, the Police has always regularly transferred its archives to the State Archives (including those of police intelligence units). State archivists participated in decisions regarding selection and transfer of police records
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Guardia di Finanza Special police corps that has jurisdiction over illegal financial transactions, tax evasion, money laundering, customs control, etc. They exist since the 1860s and have played a relevant role in Italian history
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Guardia di Finanza For their activities, they create and preserve massive records. Their Historical Branch collected documents aimed at celebrating the Corps’ deeds. Much of the archives regarding their regular activities got lost.
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The survey: 18 answers (including Italy)
Rich answers, difficult to summarize (many notes, exceptions, etc.) Do you authorize us to place your answers on line?
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Military Archives
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Are military archives transferred to the National Archives?
YES: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Sweden In part: Italy, Lithuania NO: Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Hungary, Spain Belgium: 2009 reform → transfer of military archives to the NA (not enforced yet)
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YES: Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Lithuania
When military archives are independent, are they staffed with professional archivists? YES: Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Lithuania NO: Greece In part: Italy
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Are military files transferred to the NA only after declassification?
YES: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Lithuania, Netherlands NO: (i.e. the NA preserve classified docs): Germany, Malta, Norway, Slovenia, Sweden For the most part YES: Denmark
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NO: Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Spain
For the management of records and archives, do military corps have to follow guidelines issued by the National Archives? YES: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, Malta, Norway, Slovenia NO: Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Spain Netherlands: At the moment of transfer Yes, before NO: Sweden: Ministries are not under NA supervision, but their guidelines follow those of the NA
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Do archivists from the NA participate in decisions regarding the selection and transfer of military archives? YES: Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Sweden NO: Czech Republic, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy Spain: archivists participate in decisions on selection (not on transfer) Lithuania: yes, but only for the bodies that transfer their archives to the NA
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Intelligence archives
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No: Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Malta, Spain
The archives of Intelligence Agencies are transferred to the National Archives? Yes: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Netherlands, Slovenia, No: Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Malta, Spain In part: Italy, Sweden France, Lithuania: civil intelligence YES, military intelligence NO Norway: Yes but law not yet enforced
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Are intelligence archives staffed with professional archivists?
YES: Czech Republic, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Sweden, NO: Malta Spain: We do not know Belgium: one Intelligence Agency YES, the other one NO
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Belgium: one Int. Service after 30 years, the other one after 50 years
After how many years are intelligence archives are transferred to the NA (1/2): Belgium: one Int. Service after 30 years, the other one after 50 years Bulgaria: 20 years Cyprus: years Czech Republic: from 5 to 50 years Denmark: 5 years digital records, 30 y paper records, 60 classified records
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Estonia: general rule 10 years (with exceptions)
After how many years are intelligence archives are transferred to the NA(2/2): Estonia: general rule 10 years (with exceptions) Germany, Italy, Norway, Sweden: the law does not specify Hungary: 15 years Lithuania (civil intelligence): 20 years Netherlands: 20 years (not enforced) Slovenia: 30 years
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For the selection and transfer, do Intelligence Agencies have to follow NA guidelines?
YES: Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Sweden, NO: Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Malta, Spain, France: YES civil intelligence, NO military intelligence
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NO: Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Malta, Spain,
Do archivists form the NA participate in the decisions over the selection and transfer of intelligence records? YES: Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Sweden, NO: Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Malta, Spain, France: YES civil intelligence, NO military intelligence
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YES but with exceptions: Estonia, Italy, Norway, Slovenia
Does the law provide for automatic declassification of classified national security information after a given number of years? YES: Greece NO: Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Danemark, Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Malta, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden YES but with exceptions: Estonia, Italy, Norway, Slovenia Lithuania: YES only for “confidential” documents Germany: YES for records created after 1995, NO for older records, but there are timelines for declassification review
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Automatic declassification: after how many years?
Estonia: 10, 15, 30, 50 years (unless possible damages for the Republic) Germany: 30 years Greece: 15, 20, 30, 50, 60 years Italy: 10 years (exceptions have no time limit) Lithuania: 5 years (if doc classified “confidential”) Norway: 30 years (declassification of individual docs. may be postponed 10 years at a time)
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Thank you for your attention!
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