List of secret police organizations
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of current secret police organizations. Fictional secret police organizations and historical secret police organizations are listed on their own respective pages.
In this list, reputable sources, with relevant quotes, assert that the organizations in this list are secret police.
Agencies by country
This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by editing the page to add missing items, with references to reliable sources.
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- Badshah, Nadeem (2 April 2023). "Two Britons held by Taliban speak to families for first time since arrest". The Guardian. London: Guardian Media Group. Archived from the original on 18 June 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2026.
…the Taliban's secret police… …the Taliban's general directorate of intelligence…
- Landay, Jonathan (9 August 2025). "How a CIA hit on al Qaeda ensnared a US citizen in Afghanistan". Reuters. London: Thomson Reuters. Retrieved 1 May 2026.
…the Taliban's feared secret police, the General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI)…
- Corley, Felix (18 December 2017). "Azerbaijan: Four state agencies raid religious communities". Forum 18. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
- Corley, Felix (16 February 2022). "AZERBAIJAN: Imam's pre-trial imprisonment extended in treason case". Forum 18. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
- Black, Ian (February 17, 2011). "Bahrain security forces accused of deliberately recruiting foreign nationals". The Guardian. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
The secret police – the Bahrain national security agency, known in Arabic as the Mukhabarat...
- See:
- Sweeny, John (30 July 2012). "21st-Century Torture". The Independent (London). Independent Print Limited. p. 24.
…the Belarusian secret police, the KGB…
- Taylor, Jerome (March 14, 2011). "Presidential candidate Ales Mikhalevic flees Belarus following KGB torture". The Independent. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
"out of reach of the KGB" after being summoned to return for questioning at a detention centre run by Belarus' secret police.
- Ellis, Glenn (January 21, 2016). "Belarus: Europe's last dictatorship". Al Jazeera English. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
time-warped Belarus provides a glimpse into what life was like before the collapse of the Soviet Union, where the secret police are still called the KGB
- Lopate, Leonard (July 7, 2014). "Behind the Scenes with the Troupe Defying Europe's Last Dictatorship". WNYC. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
The KGB – yes, the secret police in Belarus are still called the KGB
- Sweeny, John (30 July 2012). "21st-Century Torture". The Independent (London). Independent Print Limited. p. 24.
- Country Reports on Human Rights Practices For 1999 - Volume 1. U.S. Government Printing Office. April 2000. pp. 978–984. ISBN 9780160606694. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
- See:
- Blanchard, Ben (February 6, 2017). "China to try former secret police official for bribery". Reuters. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
China will prosecute a former high ranking official in its secret police for suspected bribery...Ma Jian, once a vice minister at China's Ministry of State Security
- Paterson, Ian (March 26, 2017). "University professor stopped from leaving China for second time by state security". The Daily Telegraph (Sydney). Retrieved June 17, 2017.
by state security...a Chinese academic stopped from returning to Australia refused to undergo a lie-detector test for China's secret police, one of his friend's claims
- Chui, Rammie; Lai, Zoe (December 26, 2016). "Behind the scenes: The mainland journalist who writes about China's human rights". Hong Kong Free Press. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
the Chinese Ministry of State Security – also well known as the Chinese secret police
- Blanchard, Ben (February 6, 2017). "China to try former secret police official for bribery". Reuters. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
- "Mamluks and maliks". The Economist. May 14, 2016. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
for the mukhabarat, the secret police, to eavesdrop on dissenters by hacking into their telephones and turning them into bugging devices.
- "The Arab winter". The Economist. January 9, 2016. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
The Mukhabarat (secret police) intervened in 2015's elections to ensure supine legislative loyalty to the president.
- Hassan, Ahmed Mohamed (July 15, 2015). "Special Report: Bedouins drawn into Egypt's Islamist fight leftright 5/5leftright". Reuters. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
a game being played by the Mukhabarat (Egyptian secret police)
- Kingsley, Patrick (July 29, 2013). "Egypt restores feared secret police units". The Guardian. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
Egypt restores feared secret police units... Egypt's state security investigations service, Mabahith Amn ad-Dawla, a wing of the police force under President Mubarak, and a symbol of police oppression, was supposedly closed in March 2011...The only thing that happened was that they changed the name
- Cambanis, Thanassis (November 22, 2011). "6 Key Questions on Egypt's Escalating Violence". The Atlantic. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
including the secret police, which were simply renamed "homeland security" instead of "state security."
- Giulia Paravicini (23 February 2024). "In Ethiopia, a secret committee orders killings and arrests to crush rebels". Reuters. Wikidata Q125491198.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ለ"ኦሮሚያ ጸጥታ" በሚል በተቋቋመ ኅቡእ ኮሚቴ የዘፈቀደ ግድያና እስራት ተፈጽሟል- ሮይተርስ (in Amharic). 2024-02-23. Retrieved 2024-04-15 – via amharic.voanews.com.
- "SPECIAL REPORT | In Ethiopia, secret committee 'orders killings and arrests to crush rebels'". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
- OGF (2024-03-08). "The "Koree Nageenyaa's" Brutality Echoes Gestapo Tactics: members of Ethiopia's State Terror group must be held accountable". Oromia Global Forum (OGF). Retrieved 2024-04-15.
- ADF (2024-03-19). "Secret Ethiopian Committee Accused of Ordering Arrests, Killings in Oromia". Africa Defense Forum. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
- Afary, Janet (May 26, 2009). "Sexual Politics in Iran". PBS Frontline. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
...they worked with the secret police SAVAMA and were instrumental in eliminating dissident groups
- "Ministry of Intelligence and Security". Retrieved 29 March 2017.
- "Iran Offers Rare Glimpse Into Secret Intelligence Service". The Associated Press. October 16, 2014. Archived from the original on February 1, 2017. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
In a first, Iran provided public information about the structure of its secret services in an Intelligence Ministry magazine published for the 30th anniversary of the creation of the ministry. According to the magazine, entitled "30 years of Silent Devotion," Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi heads a coordination council overseeing 16 different agencies. The Guard, Iran's most powerful military force, separately operates two other intelligence agencies.
- "Ganji identified Fallahian as the 'master key' in chain murders". Iran Press Service. Archived from the original on 28 April 2013.
- MacFarquhar, Neil (November 14, 2005). "Heavy Hand of the Secret Police Impeding Reform in Arab World". The New York Times. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
The secret police, or mukhabarat in Arabic, is one of the most powerful and ubiquitous forces in the Arab world. Jordan's network had surreptitiously videotaped his reading.
- Belden, Willow (October 10, 2008). "DiCaprio film glamorizes Jordan's feared spy agency". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
tells the story of a fictional collaboration between the CIA and Jordan's secret police...international observers say the real GID is a far cry from its depiction in art.
- Black, Ian (November 27, 2014). "Courts kept busy as Jordan works to crush support for Isis". The Guardian. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
fearing arrest by the powerful mukhabarat secret police
- Su, Alice (February 12, 2014). "In the Middle East, Arabic Wikipedia Is A Flashpoint - And A Beacon". Wired. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
The 36-year-old Jordanian traveled throughout the region often, but this was the first time that mukhabarat, secret police
- Kirkpatrick, David D. (March 18, 2013). "Jordan's King Finds Fault With Everyone Concerned". The New York Times. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
"Institutions I had trusted were just not on board," he said, naming as an example the mukhabarat, or secret police
- Orange, Richard (May 17, 2011). "Suicide bomber attacks Kazakh secret police HQ". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
Kazakhstan's secret police headquarters have been targeted in a suicide attack in one of the country's biggest cities....the KNB, Kazakhstan's successor to the KGB
- MacAskill, Ewen; Harding, Luke (December 17, 2015). "Ex-Kazakhstan official was not murdered in Austrian jail, judge rules". The Guardian. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
Aliyev, 52, a former ambassador to Austria, intelligence officer, deputy foreign minister and banker, who had expressed fear that his life was in danger from Kazakhstan's KNB secret police
- "Kyrgyzstan's Corruption Battle: Traffic Police vs. Secret Police | Eurasianet". eurasianet.org. Retrieved 2026-04-11.
- "Nigerian terrorist trained in the UK". The Daily Telegraph (Sydney). News Corp Australia. 18 May 2014. p. 44.
Nigeria's secret police, the Department of State Services…
- Adigun, Bashir (21 February 2013). "Nigeria arrests 'terrorists backed by Iran'". Irish Independent. Dublin: Independent News & Media. p. 22.
Nigeria's secret police… …the State Security Service, responsible for domestic spying in Africa's most populous nation…
- Onochie, Bridget Chiedu (June 6, 2017). "Wike moves to stop police's search of his Abuja residence". The Guardian. Lagos, Nigeria. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
In the suit filed by his counsel, Sylva Ogwemoh (SAN), the Economic and Financial Crimes commission (EFCC) and the Department of State Security Service (DSS) were listed as defendants. Wike, in the originating summon, is asking Justice Ahmed Mohammed for an injunction restraining the police, anti-graft agency and the secret police from embarking on the exercise.
- "Nigerian Secret Police Detain Journalists". VOA News. November 1, 2009. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
The State Security Service, Nigeria's secret police
- Adigun, Bashir; Gambrell, Jon (August 30, 2012). "AP Exclusive: Nigeria secret police details leaked". U.S. News & World Report. Associated Press. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
Nigeria secret police details leaked...The leak of personal data of more than 60 past and current employees of Nigeria's State Security Service
- Gaffey, Connor (June 10, 2016). "Nigeria: Secret Police Arrest Five Linked To ISIS Sleeper Cells In Kano". Newsweek. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
The SSS did not disclose the identities of the suspects. The secret police previously arrested an "ISIS recruiter" named Abdussalam Enesi Yunusa in Kano in February
- Sang-Hun, Choe (27 February 2017). "South Korea's Top Spies Give New Evidence in Plot to Kill Kim Jong-nam". The New York Times. New York City. Archived from the original on 1 March 2017. Retrieved 28 June 2026.
…North Korea's Ministry of State Security, the country's secret police.
- Maresca, Thomas (19 November 2025). "Kim Jong Un praises secret police on 80th anniversary". UPI.com. Boca Raton: United Press International. Archived from the original on 19 November 2025. Retrieved 28 June 2026.
The Ministry of State Security… …North Korea's primary intelligence and secret police…
- "N. Korea's spy chief meets top Russian security official in Moscow". The Korea Times. Seoul: Hankook Ilbo Media Group. Yonhap. 31 May 2026. Archived from the original on 17 June 2026. Retrieved 28 June 2026.
- See:
- Clover, Charles (September 13, 2011). "Lebedev targets Russian secret police for damages". Financial Times. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
Russia's secret police have long been immune to the law that they supposedly uphold...The lawsuit is the first of its kind in Russia to target the FSB, according to Mr Lebedev
- Fox-Brewster, Thomas (July 9, 2015). "Wikileaks Release: Hacking Team Says It Sold Spyware To FSB, Russia's Secret Police". Forbes. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
Amongst the files seen by FORBES so far are emails detailing Hacking Team's sales to Russia's secret police, the FSB.
- Kelley, Michael B (August 3, 2013). "Edward Snowden Walked Right Into A Bizarre Alliance Between Wikileaks And Russia". Business Insider. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
An official at the Center for Information Security of the FSB, Russia's secret police
- Shuster, Simon (November 1, 2010). "WikiLeaks: Is Russia the Next Target?". Time. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
the FSB, Russia's secret police, gave a warning to WikiLeaks that showed none of the tact of the U.S. reply to the Iraq revelations.
- Snowdon, Kathryn (September 21, 2015). "Russian Security Service, FSB, 'May Have Been Involved' In Whistleblower, Alexander Perepilichny's Death". HuffPost. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
FSB, 'May Have Been Involved' In Whistleblower, Alexander Perepilichny's Death...Russian secret police "may well be involved" in the death of a whistleblower living in Britain, an inquest was told on Monday.
- Mara, Darren; Levitz, David (July 19, 2010). "Russian upper house increases KGB successor's power, to activists' dismay". Deutsche Welle. Agence France-Presse/Deutsche Presse-Agentur. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
of the secret police (FSB), successor to the Soviet-era KGB.
- Galeotti, Mark (January 17, 2017). "The Spies Who Love Putin". The Atlantic. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
the infamous Federal Security Service (FSB). Originally established to protect the Kremlin's rule at home, it has increasingly moved into Russia's foreign operations. A new cohort of secret policemen....Their backgrounds as secret police in an authoritarian state make them especially prone to bullying and blackmailing, corrupting and killing
- "Russian activist Pavlensky guilty over tyre-burning protest". BBC. May 19, 2016. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
the FSB secret police headquarters
- "New powers for Russia's FSB alarm rights activists". BBC. March 6, 2012. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
Russia has expanded the powers of its FSB secret police
- Clover, Charles (September 13, 2011). "Lebedev targets Russian secret police for damages". Financial Times. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
- Sullivan, Kevin (March 1, 2015). "A rare look inside a Saudi prison that showers terrorists with perks". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 29, 2017.
...spokesman for the powerful Ministry of Interior, whose Mabahith secret police...
- Dorling, Philip (June 20, 2015). "WikiLeaks 'Saudi Cables' reveal secret Saudi government influence in Australia". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved May 29, 2017.
...the Mabahith, the General Investigation Directorate of the Saudi Ministry of Interior, the Kingdom's brutal secret police...
- Caryl, Christian (October 3, 2012). "An Idealist on Death Row". Foreign Policy. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
...the Sudanese secret police — the notorious National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS)...
- Howden, Daniel (June 28, 2012). "Has the Arab Spring now spread to Sudan?". The Independent. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
...and the hated secret police, the NISS.
- See:
- Sledge, Matt (27 June 2014). "U.S.-Backed Secret Police Arrest Doctoral Student In Tajikistan". The World Post. New York City: The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 28 June 2014. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
A U.S.-trained secret police force… …The State Committee of National Security, the successor to the Soviet spy agency KGB in the central Asia country…
- Hoyle, Ben (1 July 2014). "Tajiks hold 'spying' Exeter academic". The Times (UK Edition). London. p. 32.
…his meeting with an opposition leader was broken up by secret police…
- Sledge, Matt (27 June 2014). "U.S.-Backed Secret Police Arrest Doctoral Student In Tajikistan". The World Post. New York City: The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 28 June 2014. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
- See:
- Stalker, Peter (2010). A Guide to Countries of the World. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 328. ISBN 9780199580729.
His heavyweight secret police, the KNB…
- Bohr, Annette (2013). Nations in Transit 2013: Democratization from Central Europe to Eurasia. New York City: Freedom House. p. 579. ISBN 9781442231191.
…including MNS secret police and other officials…
- Stalker, Peter (2010). A Guide to Countries of the World. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 328. ISBN 9780199580729.
- See:
- "Ukraine Intel: We Caught Iranians Smuggling a Ship-Killing Missile". The Daily Beast. 30 March 2018.
Masked men in Ukraine's secret police ... Officers from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) arrested the men...
- "Alexander Lebedev's hotel raided in Ukraine". The Telegraph. 6 November 2010.
He said officers from the SBU, Ukraine's secret police, had swooped on a hotel he owns in the More resort in Alushta on the Crimean coast.
- "Ukraine utility cyber attack wider than reported: experts". Reuters. 4 January 2016.
...when the nation's secret police blamed a power outage on Russia... Ukraine's SBU state security service responded by blaming Russia...
- "Why Ukraine's Next Revolution Won't Be on the Streets". Atlantic Council. 24 October 2017.
...then served briefly as deputy chief of Ukraine's secret police...
- "The Winners and Losers in Crimea's Vote for Secession". Time Magazine. 16 March 2014.
...got a call on his cell phone from an officer of the SBU secret police, Ukraine's successor to the Soviet-era KGB.
- "The Dutch put four men on trial for shooting down Flight MH17". The Economist. 8 March 2020.
Mobile-phone conversations intercepted by the SBU (Ukraine's secret police) appeared to show...
- "Ukraine Intel: We Caught Iranians Smuggling a Ship-Killing Missile". The Daily Beast. 30 March 2018.
- See:
- "Uzbek Secret Police Roam Russian Prisons". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
...Uzbek Secret Police Roam Russian Prisons ... Rights activists says Tashkent security men interrogate detainees and abduct asylum-seekers in Russia with impunity.
- Trilling, David (November 22, 2011). "Propagandastan". Foreign Policy. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
the country's feared secret police — the SNB
- Foust, Joshua (December 22, 2008). "Human Rights in Central Asia". World Politics Review. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
The SNB -- the secret police that strikes fear into the hearts of citizens and expats alike
- "Uzbek Secret Police Roam Russian Prisons". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
- See:
- Minaya, Ezequiel; Schaefer Muñoz (February 9, 2015). "Venezuela Confronts Retail Sector". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
...members of the secret police, called the Sebin, surrounded Mr. Morales and arrested him...
- "Rights group: American moved to dangerous prison". Associated Press. May 31, 2013. Archived from the original on February 21, 2015. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
...was moved Wednesday from the SEBIN secret police lockup...
- "Trouble on the streets". The Economist. May 21, 2016. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
the national guard and the feared, black-uniformed SEBIN (secret police)
- Goodman, Joshua (August 23, 2016). "Utah man describes 'nightmare' conditions in Venezuela jail". Associated Press. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
Even the head boss over all of SEBIN took photos with me as if I were some sort of trophy to him," he wrote, referring to the initials for Venezuela's secret police.
- Gutman, Matt (February 14, 2017). "Reporter's notebook: How a look inside Venezuela's crumbling health care system got me kicked out of the country". ABC News. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
They would likely have to call SEBIN -- the dreaded secret police
- Stolk, Raúl (April 17, 2017). "In Venezuela, a Rebellion Is Taking Shape, but Where Can It End?". The Daily Beast. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
More alarming than a tweetstorm, however, are allegations that young protesters detained by Maduro's secret police (SEBIN)
- Minaya, Ezequiel; Schaefer Muñoz (February 9, 2015). "Venezuela Confronts Retail Sector". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
- See:
- Raath, Jan (3 August 2013). "Farm couple 'face arrest for voting anti-Mugabe'". The Times (UK Edition). London. p. 35.
…agents of the Central Intelligence Organisation, the feared secret police.
- Han Shih, Toh (5 August 2012). "HK adviser 'gave US$100m to Mugabe secret police'". South China Morning Post. p. 6.
…Several reliable sources within the Zimbabwe secret police (the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO))…
- Bootle, Olly (June 7, 2007). "'I was at Mugabe's "torture" camp'". BBC. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
for Zimbabwe's secret police - the Central Intelligence Organisation, or CIO.
- Burgis, Tom (September 7, 2016). "Harare Diary: Tom Burgis on five days in Mugabe's crumbling regime". Financial Times. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
for Mugabe's secret police. The Central Intelligence Organisation reports directly to the president
- Laing, Aislinn (May 20, 2011). "Former member of Mugabe secret police granted asylum in UK". The Telegraph. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
A former member of Robert Mugabe's feared secret police in Zimbabwe...The CIO, along with the police and armed forces, was widely blamed for the worst of the violence
- Raath, Jan (3 August 2013). "Farm couple 'face arrest for voting anti-Mugabe'". The Times (UK Edition). London. p. 35.
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