Intelligence reform: the IRIS of the OSCE's eye in Bosnia and Herzegovina
And in a country in transition that is still suffering from the after-effects of war like Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), where many prejudices are still alive and kicking, this veil of secrecy is especially tough to penetrate.
Now, however, a pioneering success story can be told: how a small team of four people managed - with a little help from their friends - to play a major role in the reform of the intelligence community in BiH.
But why did the OSCE Mission to BiH decide to tackle this thorny issue?
In December 2003, the Office of the High Representative (OHR) in BiH, Paddy Ashdown, proposed the establishment of a single intelligence service at the state level, with the aim of replacing the existing ones in the two Entities that make up BiH, the Federation of BiH and the Republika Srpska.
Support for intelligence reforms
The OSCE Mission concurred with the political direction of the intelligence reform set by the OHR, and offered its expert support in the implementation of the reform process.
In early 2004, the Mission set up the Intelligence Reform Implementation Section (IRIS) as a unit within its Security Co-operation Department. IRIS had just four staff members, a number that remained constant until the expiry of its mandate on 30 June this year.
"We were the first ever," says the Head of IRIS, Drago Fers, a Slovenian intelligence expert who has been in the business for over 40 years. "The OSCE had never had a similar programme, nor had it ever before been involved in intelligence reform.
"With that in mind, I think we did a good job. Sure, there were some disagreements, and a certain lack of support, but that was done out of ignorance, not intentionally."
Fers and the IRIS team rolled up their sleeves and quietly set about their work. Together with the domestic intelligence services and other experts, they assisted representatives from BiH institutions in drafting and explaining the new Law on the Intelligence and Security Agency of BiH to Parliamentarians and other authorities.
Important legislation
It was this important piece of legislation, adopted in March 2004, which established a single intelligence agency for BiH - the BiH Intelligence and Security Agency (OSA), as well as the Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee for the Oversight of the OSA.
"We would probably not even have a Law on the OSA without the OSCE and the OHR," says Chairman of the Committee, Tomislav Limov.
"The involvement of the international community in creating a unified intelligence service out of two, even three, who were almost hostile to each other, is necessary. I just wish the OSCE had been stauncher in presenting their opinions. But I think IRIS, as it is, did a great job for this country and its citizens."
Major challenge
For IRIS, a major challenge was to try to get people who had, until very recently, been quite literally spying on each other, to work together.
"Once we managed to sit them all down at the same table, it was easy," says Fers. "They realised that there is one state - BiH - the benefit of which they all have to work towards.
"It also helped that, in the Dayton Peace Agreement, the intelligence services were never mentioned so, strictly speaking, there was nothing to give up, no competencies to be transferred."
Since its creation 18 months ago, the OSA has become a member of the Middle Europe Conference of Intelligence Services - one of the first to join - and according to Fers and his colleague, IRIS Project Officer Mersiha Kahriman, it is built on a solid foundation.
Great results
"The OSA has produced great results in the first year and a half of its existence in all fields of work: the fight against organised crime, investigating war crimes, etc. The excellent organisational structure established by the OSCE has made it possible for them to tackle threats to BiH swiftly and professionally," notes Fers.
So what happens to the OSA and its work now that IRIS's mandate has expired? Will the closure of the latter mean that the OSA will be left out in the cold, without guidance? The staff of IRIS think not.
"This is definitely not the end of intelligence reform in BiH," says Mersiha Kahriman. "I hope that the OHR or someone else sees the importance of continuing IRIS - maybe not under the same name, but I am sure that the international community will realise the importance of carrying on the work in this area."