[ad_1]
New Zealand’s spy chief has blamed his agency’s “inappropriate” approach to Islamic extremism on lack of government funding, after the royal commission’s terror probe criticized the lack of clear leadership within the system. national security.
The director general of the Security Intelligence Service (SIS), Rebecca Kitteridge, defended the government’s national security operators on Tuesday, when a report by the Royal Commission on the terrorist investigation of March 15 revealed “a systemic failure to recognize that there was a threat from far-right domestic terrorism ”.
Kitteridge apologized to the Muslim community, which had been critical of the treatment received by the SIS. But he claimed that the Muslim community as a whole was not monitored.
“I know it has been really difficult for them in the last few years and that they have found some of the interactions that they have had with my service difficult and it has made them feel like they have been attacked,” he said.
READ MORE:
* Muslim group warned police of a threat on March 15, weeks before the Chch attack.
* The spy chief defends the claim of the jihadist brides
* ‘No matter where they come from’, jihadist brides were still New Zealanders: Government
* New Zealand’s ‘jihadist brides’ left Australia
ROBERT KITCHEN / Things
SIS chief Rebecca Kitteridge says she sincerely apologizes to the Muslim community, though she says her service did not oversee the community as a whole.
The investigation found that the focus on Islamic extremism “was not the result of a considered system-wide decision,” and there was no method for evaluating the national security system’s counterterrorism efforts.
A mosaic of agencies contributed to the national security strategy, including the SIS, the Government Security and Communications Office, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC), the police and Customs.
Other agencies, including the Defense Force and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, sat alongside these agencies in an “Intelligence and Security Board” charged with prioritizing threats, including foreign interference, pandemics, and natural hazards.
The investigation found that although the DPMC acted as the lead agency for the fight against terrorism, there were different views on who was leading the work against terrorism.
A DPMC counter-terrorism coordinator said it was more important that the board take the lead, according to the investigation. The GCSB said it was the SIS and the police. Kitteridge told the investigation that it was the DPMC coordinator who was in charge, not the SIS. Former Police Commissioner Mike Bush said police and SIS were in the lead.
“There is no common understanding about the leadership of the counterterrorism effort and what it means in practice,” the investigation said.
The investigation said the National Evaluation Office, a team within the DPMC that writes intelligence reports for the prime minister, was reluctant to consider national security issues. He had become increasingly “customer-centric” after 2013, mainly reporting on foreign policy and trade issues for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
KITCHEN / ROBERT THINGS
NZSIS chief Rebecca Kitteridge does not believe the Muslim community as a whole was a target of her agency.
The threat of domestic terrorism, especially terrorism that was not motivated by Islamic extremism, was “lightly covered” in office briefings. From the regular briefings with the prime minister between 2010 and March 15, 2019, there were fewer than 20 references to domestic terrorism.
Kitteridge said the SIS was unable to expand its investigations into other threats until 2018, due to lack of resources.
“I knew then that it was not a good situation to be in that situation, and I moved quickly to grow the organization, so that we could see a broader range of threats.”
The SIS began reviewing its priorities in 2018 and began to consider the threat of right-wing extremism. In October of that year, he conducted a “counter exercise” based on a scenario of a motor vehicle attack on Muslim worshipers outside Masjid An-Nur, the Christchurch mosque that was later attacked by the terrorist. .
But this view of right-wing extremism was “still limited,” the investigation said.
However, the royal commission said that even if right-wing terrorism were a focus, the possibility of detecting the terrorist would have depended on chance.
He recommended the establishment of a new counter-terrorism agency and a minister specifically responsible for countering terrorism. The Government has accepted the recommendation “in principle”.
Kai Schwoerer / Getty Images
Warning signs, such as the March 15 terrorist flying a drone over Masjid An-Nur, could still have gone unnoticed if intelligence agencies targeted right-wing extremism, says the Royal Commission on the terror attack. March 15.
KITTERIDGE: I DIDN’T SAY ‘JIHADI BRIDES’
Kitteridge has faced criticism from Muslim groups for his public comments linking terrorist threats to the Muslim community. This included statements about New Zealand women who traveled to ISIS-controlled territory and a 2016 speech in which he said that a terrorist event would have a “negative impact” on New Zealand Muslims, although he said in the speech that terrorism “is not an issue. Muslim ”.
The research found that Kitteridge’s 2015 comments about New Zealand women traveling to ISIS-controlled areas were technically correct, however it was a mistake to think that the women had left New Zealand, had been living in Australia.
Then-Prime Minister John Key’s repeated references to “jihadist brides” had exacerbated the “ill will” felt by the Muslim community, especially Muslim women.
“This was compounded by the delay in correcting the misconception,” the investigation said.
Kitteridge said Tuesday that she had never used the term jihadist brides.
“When that issue came up in 2014, I was really concerned about how it would develop in the community and I made the information available in the public domain that the women had been from Australia.
She said she directly apologized to the New Zealand Council of Islamic Women at the time.
“It has been a very challenging situation, but my goal at all times is to have a really constructive relationship with the Muslim community.
“My own goal has always been to have an inclusive society where everyone can prosper. I think it has the best safety results for New Zealand. “
