Conference on Intelligence Oversight

4-5 December, Ljubljana, Slovenia – Analytica took part at the conference “Bringing together the watchdogs: evaluating and enhancing the oversight of intelligence services in Western Balkans” organized by the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF).

The conference brought together parliamentarians, parliamentary staffers, members of expert/independent oversight bodies, representatives of civil of society and journalists from across the region. Additionally, representatives from leading European oversight bodies, renowned investigative journalists and former senior intelligence officials from outside the region contributed with their expertise.

The conference had two goals:

     1. To provide a forum for the discussion of key issues – identified by stakeholders throughout the region – amongst parliamentarians, civil society and journalists. These issues include:

(a) the protection and promotion of human rights in the work of intelligence services;

(b) the role of journalists in the oversight of intelligence services; and

(c) the evaluation of intelligence oversight systems.

     2. To provide a platform to launch two DCAF publications that are part of this project:

           • A toolkit (a set of policy guidance notes) on overseeing intelligence services; the toolkit has been translated into three regional languages

           • A series of case studies on intelligence governance in the region, available in English and national languages

The Macedonian case study (also promoted at this conference) was written by our research fellow Andreja Bogdanovski. You can find the paper in Macedonian language here.