Joint Counter Terrorism Center

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Joint Counter Terrorism Center
- GTAZ -

logo
State level Federation
position Cooperation between authorities
founding December 14, 2004
Headquarters Berlin
Servants 229
Web presence Information from the BMI regarding the GTAZ

The Joint Counter-Terrorism Center ( GTAZ ) is a joint coordination point for the security authorities of the federal states and the federal government with the aim of improving operational work on international counter-terrorism . It deals exclusively with the fight against Islamist terrorism . This should be achieved by improving communication channels, exchanging existing information, improving evaluation skills, facilitating early detection of possible threats and coordinating operational measures in the area of ​​Islamist-motivated terrorism. Function and objectives largely coincide with those of Fusion Centers in the USA.

founding

New building on the barracks site at Am Treptower Park

The GTAZ started its work on December 14, 2004 in Berlin . The creation of this coordination office became necessary because the responsibility for the security of citizens in Germany is highly fragmented due to the federal structure of the Federal Republic. In the center, which is not an independent authority, a total of 229 officials from the Federal Criminal Police Office , the Office for the Protection of the Constitution , the Federal Intelligence Service , the Customs Criminal Police Office , the Military Counter-Intelligence Service , the 16 State Criminal Police Offices and 16 State Offices for the Protection of the Constitution , the Federal Police , the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees and the General Public Prosecutor's Office exchange their findings and their expertise. The GTAZ bundles the expertise of a total of 40 German security authorities. Within the framework of this coordination platform, relevant knowledge can be exchanged quickly and easily. This is intended to facilitate the rapid introduction of operational measures. In addition, the evaluation of safety-relevant facts should be made much easier and faster. The intensive cooperation between the security authorities involved creates the conditions for effectively combating the threats posed by Islamist terrorism.

Organizational structure

The GTAZ consists of two separate evaluation and analysis centers: the Intelligence Information and Analysis Center (NIAS) and the Police Information and Analysis Center (PIAS). It is divided into a total of nine working groups:

  • Working group "Daily situation briefing" : The daily situation report preparation and discussion serves the exchange of current police and intelligence service situation knowledge, the preparation of initial assessments as well as the preparation of a corresponding catalog of measures.
  • "Risk assessment" working group : The sum of all incoming information and findings is analyzed and evaluated promptly. The results should enable a reliable evaluation of a possible need for action and the risk situation.
  • Working group "Operational information exchange" : Here a structurally fixed exchange of information takes place with the aim of fast and adequate deployment planning.
  • "Case evaluation" working group : In the case evaluation, sub-aspects of terrorist activities, including secondary criminal offenses, such as the illegal procurement and falsification of identity documents or the procurement of weapons and explosives, are evaluated. This serves to develop appropriate search and prevention approaches.
  • Working group “Structural Analysis” : This group deals with the common and centralized structural analysis for the identification and classification of long-term aspects of the working methods and methods of internationally operating terrorist groups and suspects.
  • Working group "Investigation of the Islamist-Terrorist Potential of Individuals" : This working group deals with the investigation of the Islamist-terrorist potential of individuals, including relevant groups of people and potential recruitment and support structures. In addition, the analysis and use of possible synergy effects in the bundling of official resources, especially in the area of ​​Internet research and Islamic scientific advisory and translation capacities, takes place here .
  • Working group "Status law accompanying measures " : This is where the data comparison and the analysis of the immigration registers are carried out for the early detection of legally possible preventive measures in the area of immigration and asylum law . The check is also carried out here to determine whether a deportation is possibly indicated.
  • “Deradicalization” working group : This organizational unit exchanges experience and information on suitable security policy measures and approaches to combat radicalization in the Islamic milieu.
  • Working group “Transnational Aspects of Islamist Terrorism” : Within the framework of this team, influencing factors and developments in international Islamic terrorism emanating from abroad - insofar as they affect German interests - are to be clarified and assessed.

Further development

The “International Terrorism” information and analysis center was expanded in mid-2005 by a further 35 officers from the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. The Federal Criminal Police Office and the Office for the Protection of the Constitution set up two branch offices that are organizationally independent of each other in Berlin in the barracks area at Am Treptower Park , in which the other authorities are involved. The information brought in from Germany and abroad flows together to create a picture of the situation. The so-called anti - terrorist database is an important tool .

The Joint Internet Center (GIZ) was set up on January 2, 2007, based on the model of the Joint Counter-Terrorism Center. Throughout Europe, GIZ's findings are collected at Europol on the basis of the Check-the-Web: Fighting terrorism on the Internet initiative .

Another center, which, like the GTAZ, is made up of officials from German police authorities and intelligence services, is the Joint Analysis and Strategy Center for Illegal Migration (GASIM), founded in 2006 . In addition, the GTAZ was the structural godfather of the National Cyber ​​Defense Center founded in February 2011 and the Joint Extremism and Terrorism Defense Center (GETZ) established in November 2012 .

criticism

The establishment of the GTAZ was criticized, among others, by the Humanist Union , the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information Peter Schaar and Jan Wörlein from the Institute for Civil Rights & Public Security eV . Lawyers and data protectionists criticized the fact that the separation requirement between the police and the intelligence services was lifted .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Patrick Miller and David Brannan (2010): FUSION 2.0: The next Generation of Fusion in California: Aligning State and Regional Fusion Centers , Thesis of the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California
  2. ↑ Press release of the Federal Ministry of the Interior on the GTAZ (Joint Anti-Terrorism Center) ( Memento of the original from July 25, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bmi.bund.de
  3. ↑ a b Information from the BMI (Federal Ministry of the Interior) on the work of GATZ. ( Memento of December 8, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ Bundestag printed paper 17/5695, p. 2 of May 2, 2011 (PDF file; 97.5 kB)
  5. ↑ The Common Internet Center (GIZ)  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. BMI@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.bmi.bund.de  
  6. ^ Heise.de: Security authorities: German as the language of Islamist propaganda is gaining in importance.
  7. ↑ heise.de: Europol starts monitoring project "Check the Web".
  8. ↑ Federal government adopts heise cyber security strategy on February 23, 2011
  9. ↑ Opening of the Joint Extremism and Terrorism Defense Center (GETZ) ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. BMI press release, November 15, 2012  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bmi.bund.de
  10. ↑ The end of the separation requirement for intelligence services and police. Anti-terror file violates the separation requirement and right to informational self-determination By Rosemarie Will, humanistische-union.de December 15, 2006.
  11. ↑ Schaar versus Schäuble - Federal Data Protection Commissioner warns against even more surveillance May 18, 2007
  12. ^ The separation requirement for cooperation - Institutionalized cooperation between police and services October 17, 2008
  13. ↑ https://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Nach-wie-vor-Kritik-am-Terror-Abwehrzentrum-2437972.html .

Coordinates: 52 ° 29 ′ 30.9 ″  N , 13 ° 27 ′ 16.2 ″  E