The Internal Security Department (ISD) is a domestic

counter-intelligence Counterintelligence is an activity aimed at protecting an agency's intelligence program from an opposition's intelligence service. It includes gathering information and conducting activities to prevent espionage, sabotage, assassinations or ot ...

and

security agency A security agency is a governmental organization that conducts intelligence activities for the internal security of a nation. They are the domestic cousins of foreign intelligence agencies, and typically conduct counterintelligence to thwart other ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

under the purview of the

Ministry of Home Affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

(MHA), tasked to confront and address

security Security is protection from, or resilience against, potential harm (or other unwanted coercive change) caused by others, by restraining the freedom of others to act. Beneficiaries (technically referents) of security may be of persons and social ...

threats A threat is a communication of intent to inflict harm or loss on another person. Intimidation is a tactic used between conflicting parties to make the other timid or psychologically insecure for coercion or control. The act of intimidation for co ...

, including

international terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

, foreign

subversion Subversion () refers to a process by which the values and principles of a system in place are contradicted or reversed in an attempt to transform the established social order and its structures of power, authority, hierarchy, and social norms. Sub ...

and

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangibl ...

. It has the utmost right to detain without trial individuals suspected to be a threat to

national security National security, or national defence, is the security and defence of a sovereign state, including its citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of government. Originally conceived as protection against military atta ...

. The ISD also monitors and addresses potential threats from

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

, prevention of

racial tension An ethnic conflict is a conflict between two or more contending ethnic groups. While the source of the conflict may be political, social, economic or religious, the individuals in conflict must expressly fight for their ethnic group's positio ...

which might affect the public peace, domestic

counter-terrorism Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or el ...

, international counter-terrorism,

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...

against the state,

surveillance Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as c ...

, apprehension of suspected

militants The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Latin ...

terrorists Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

and protection of Singapore's national borders.

History

ISD was first established as part of the

Special Branch Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security and Intelligence (information gathering), intelligence in Policing in the United Kingdom, British, Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, ...

in 1948 by the British colonial government. In 1963, it became part of the

Malaysian Special Branch The Special Branch or SB (Malay: ''Cawangan Khas'') is an intelligence agency attached to the Royal Malaysia Police. The SB is empowered to acquire and develop intelligence on internal and external threats to the nation, subversive activities, ...

when Singapore merged with

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, and after Singapore gained independence, the Internal Security Department was formally established on 17 February 1966. It was formerly part of the

Ministry of Interior and Defence Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...

(MID) until it was split on 11 August 1970. In 2004, it was placed under the

National Security Coordination Secretariat The National Security Coordination Secretariat (NSCS) is a department under the Ministry of Defence of the Government of Singapore. Established in 1999, it was tasked to strengthen coordination amongst Singapore's existing security agencies; Singap ...

to improve intelligence sharing with other national intelligence agencies.

Legislation

The powers of investigation and arrest of the ISD are regulated by several laws, including: *

Criminal Procedure Code Criminal procedure is the adjudication process of the criminal law. While criminal procedure differs dramatically by jurisdiction, the process generally begins with a formal criminal charge with the person on trial either being free on bail or ...

Official Secrets Act An Official Secrets Act (OSA) is legislation that provides for the protection of state secrets and official information, mainly related to national security but in unrevised form (based on the UK Official Secrets Act 1911) can include all infor ...

Internal Security Act Internal Security Act may refer to: * Internal Security Act 1960, former Malaysian law *Internal Security Act (Singapore) * McCarran Internal Security Act, a United States federal law *Suppression of Communism Act, 1950, a South African law, rename ...

Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act The Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act 1990 ("MRHA") is a Singapore statute which, according to its long title, provides for the maintenance of religious harmony, for the establishment of a Presidential Council for Religious Harmony ("PCRH") ...

Timeline

These events are related to ISD and internal security of Singapore. * 1950,

Maria Hertogh riots Maria Hertogh (born ''Huberdina Maria Hertogh''; 24 March 1937 – 8 July 2009), also known as Bertha Hertogh, Nadra binte Ma'arof, Nadra Adabi and simply as Natrah, was a Dutch woman of Eurasian extraction and Malay upbringing, notable for bei ...

. * 1963, arrest of left-wing politicians and trade unionists during

Operation Coldstore Operation Coldstore was the code name for a covert security operation executed in Singapore on 2 February 1963 which led to the arrest of 113 people, who were detained without trial pursuant to the Preservation of Public Service Security Ordinan ...

. * 1964, 21 July – 8 September,

race riots An ethnic conflict is a conflict between two or more contending ethnic groups. While the source of the conflict may be political, social, economic or religious, the individuals in conflict must expressly fight for their ethnic group's positio ...

, took place on Muhammad's birthday. * 1965, 10 March,

MacDonald House bombing The MacDonald House bombing was a sabotage attack on the MacDonald House building in Orchard Road, Singapore, on 10 March 1965, just a few months before Singapore's expulsion from Malaysia. The nitroglycerin bomb was planted by Indonesian sab ...

by Indonesian saboteurs killed three people, during the konfrontasi period. * 1966, arrest of 22 members of

Barisan Sosialis Barisan Sosialis ( eng, Socialist Front) was a political party in Singapore. It was formed on 29 July 1961 and officially registered on 13 August 1961 by left-wing members of the People's Action Party (PAP) who had been expelled from the PAP. ...

. * 1969, communal clashes spillover from the 13 May incident. * 1974, 31 January,

Laju incident The Laju incident, also known as the Laju ferry hijacking, occurred on 31 January 1974 in Singapore. Four armed men from the terrorist groups Japanese Red Army and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine attacked the Shell oil refinery comp ...

, the

Japanese Red Army The was a militant communist organization active from 1971 to 2001. It was designated a terrorist organization by Japan and the United States. The JRA was founded by Fusako Shigenobu and Tsuyoshi Okudaira in February 1971 and was most active i ...

bombed petroleum tanks at

Pulau Bukom Pulau Bukom, also known as Pulau Bukum ( zh, 毛广岛; ta, புளு புகோம்), is a small restricted-access island belonging to Singapore that is located about five kilometres to the south of Mainland Singapore, off the Strait ...

and hijacked a ferry boat. * 1982, uncovered

Singapore People's Liberation Organisation Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country, island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Pen ...

activities. * 1982, two Soviet spies, Anatoly Alexeyevich Larkin and Alexander Alexandrovich Bondarev, exposed for espionage activities. * 1985, local network of

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

uncovered. * 1987, arrest of 22 alleged pro-Marxist activists during

Operation Spectrum Operation Spectrum, also known as the 1987 "Marxist Conspiracy", was the code name for a covert security operation that took place in Singapore on 21 May 1987. Sixteen people were arrested and detained without trial under Singapore's Internal ...

. * 1991, four Pakistanis hijacked

Singapore Airlines Flight 117 Singapore Airlines Flight 117 was a Singapore Airlines flight that was hijacked en route by four Pakistani terrorists on 26 March 1991. The aircraft landed in Singapore. The hijackers, who claimed to be members of the Pakistan Peoples Party ...

. * 1997, 1998, six arrested for involvement in espionage and foreign subversive activities. * 2001, 9 December, members of

Jemaah Islamiyah Jemaah Islamiyah ( ar, الجماعة الإسلامية, ''al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmiyyah'', meaning "Islamic Congregation", frequently abbreviated JI) is a Southeast Asian militant extremist Islamist terrorist group based in Indonesia, which i ...

(JI) arrested for bomb plots on the American, Australian, British and Israeli embassies. * 2008, 27 February,

Mas Selamat bin Kastari Mas Selamat Kastari (born 23 January 1961), an Indonesian-born Singaporean, was for more than a year Singapore's most-wanted fugitive after escaping from detention on 27 February 2008. The search for him has been described as the largest manhunt ...

, alleged leader of JI's Singapore branch, escaped while under the ISD's custody. * 2009, 1 April, the Malaysian authorities captured Mas Selamat in

Skudai Skudai (also spelled Sekudai) is a suburb in Iskandar Puteri, Johor Bahru District, Johor, Malaysia. Skudai is part of the new growth corridor of southwest Johor. Its population ranges between 160,000 and 210,000. It houses the Paradigm Mall Johor ...

Johor Johor (; ), also spelled as Johore, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. Johor has land borders with the Malaysian states of Pahang to the north and Malacca and Negeri Sembilan ...

. * 2010, 8 February, the ISD summoned Pastor Rony Tan of Lighthouse Evangelism over video clips posted on the church website that were deemed 'highly inappropriate and unacceptable' as they "trivialised and insulted the beliefs of Buddhists and Taoists". * 2021, 27 January, the ISD reported it had arrested a 16-year old Protestant youth under the Internal Security Act in November 2020 for plotting to attack two Singaporean mosques on the anniversary of the 2019

Christchurch mosque shootings On 15 March 2019, two consecutive mass shootings occurred in a terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. The attacks, carried out by a lone gunman who entered both mosques during Friday prayer, began at the Al Noor Mosque ...

. The youth had written a manifesto praising the perpetrator

Brenton Tarrant On 15 March 2019, two consecutive mass shootings occurred in a terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. The attacks, carried out by a lone gunman who entered both mosques during Friday prayer, began at the Al Noor Mosque ...

as a "saint" and describing the Christchurch mosque shootings as the "justifiable killing of Muslims." The teenage is the youngest person and the first far right extremist to be detained under the ISA. * 2021, 29 January, Yeo Jun Wei, was detained by the ISD for investigations into engaging in "activities prejudicial to Singapore’s security". * 2021, 10 March, the ISD reported that it had detained a 20-year old national serviceman named Amirull Ali in February 2021 under the

for plotting to attack three Jewish worshippers at the

Maghain Aboth Synagogue The Maghain Aboth Synagogue ( he, מגן אבות, translit: ''Ma'gen Ahvot'', "Guardian of Patriarchs") is a synagogue in Singapore. It is located at 24/26 Waterloo Street in Rochor, within the Central Area at Singapore's central business di ...

out of sympathy for the

Palestinians Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

. Ali also reportedly planned to travel to Gaza to join

Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Bri ...

' military wing, the

Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades ( ar, كتائب الشهيد عز الدين القسام, , Battalions of martyr Izz ad-Din al-Qassam; also spelt Izzedine or Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades; often shortened to Al-Qassam Brigades, IQB

Directors

The following is a list of former Director of the Internal Security Department. The identity of the director is not conspicuously made known to the public, until they relinquish the post.

References

External links

Internal Security Department
{{authority control Counterterrorism in Singapore Organisations of the Singapore Government Law enforcement agencies of Singapore Singaporean intelligence agencies