Internal Security Department (Singapore)

Internal Security Department

Agency overview
Formed	17 February 1966
Preceding agency	Special Branch, as part of the Malayan Security Service (1948)
Headquarters	New Phoenix Park, 30 Irrawaddy Road, Singapore
Minister responsible	K. Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs
Parent agency	Ministry of Home Affairs
Website	mha.gov.sg/isd

The Internal Security Department (ISD; Malay: Jabatan Keselamatan Dalam Negeri, Chinese: 新加坡内部安全局) is the domestic counter-intelligence and security agency of Singapore under the purview of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), tasked to confront and address security threats, including both domestic and international terrorism, and foreign subversion and espionage. The ISD has the utmost right to detain without trial individuals suspected to be a threat to national security.

The role of ISD ranges from monitoring and addressing potential threats from communism; racial tension, which might affect public order; domestic and international terrorism; foreign surveillance; fraud against the state to the apprehension of suspected militants or terrorists.

History

ISD was first established as part of the Special Branch in 1948 by the British colonial government. The unit was previously known as the Criminal Intelligence Department when it was established in 1918.

In 1963, it became part of the Malaysian Special Branch when Singapore merged with Malaysia. 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 (MID) until it was split on 11 August 1970. In 2004, it was placed under the Joint Counter Terrorism Centre 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
• Official Secrets Act
• Internal Security Act
• Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act

Timeline

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

• 1950, Maria Hertogh riots.
• 1963, arrest of left-wing politicians and trade unionists during Operation Coldstore.
• 1964, 21 July – 8 September, race riots, took place on Muhammad's birthday.
• 1965, 10 March, MacDonald House bombing by Indonesian saboteurs killed three people, during the konfrontasi period.
• 1966, arrest of 22 members of Barisan Sosialis.
• 1969, communal clashes spillover from the 13 May incident.
• 1974, 31 January, Laju incident, the Japanese Red Army bombed petroleum tanks at Pulau Bukom and hijacked a ferry boat.
• 1982, uncovered Singapore People's Liberation Organisation 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 uncovered.
• 1987, arrest of 22 alleged pro-Marxist activists during Operation Spectrum.
• 1991, four Pakistanis hijacked Singapore Airlines Flight 117.
• 1997, 1998, six arrested for involvement in espionage and foreign subversive activities.
• 2001, 9 December, members of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) arrested for bomb plots on the American, Australian, British and Israeli embassies.
• 2008, 27 February, Mas Selamat bin Kastari, 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, Johor.
• 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. The youth had written a manifesto praising the perpetrator Brenton Tarrant 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 Internal Security Act for plotting to attack three Jewish worshippers at the Maghain Aboth Synagogue out of sympathy for the Palestinians. Ali also reportedly planned to travel to Gaza to join Hamas' military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.

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.

See also

• Security and Intelligence Division, the foreign intelligence service