View source for Sigurimi

{{Short description|Albanian secret police}}
{{More citations needed|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox Government agency
| agency_name     = Directorate of State Security
| nativename      = Drejtoria e Sigurimit të Shtetit
| motto           = "''Për popullin, me popullin''" ("For the people, with the people")
| seal            = Sigurimi.svg
| seal_width      = 200px
| seal_caption    = 
| flag            = 
| formed          = 10 December 1944
| dissolved       = 15 August 1991
| preceding1      = 
| superseding     = [[SHIK]]
| jurisdiction    = 
| headquarters    = [[Tirana]], [[People's Socialist Republic of Albania]]
| coordinates     = 
| minister1_name  = 
| minister1_pfo   = 
| minister2_name  = 
| minister2_pfo   = 
| chief1_name     = 
| chief1_position = 
| parent_agency   = [[People's Socialist Republic of Albania]]
| child1_agency   = 
| child2_agency   = 
| child3_agency   = 
| child4_agency   = 
| website         = 
| footnotes       = 
}}
The '''Directorate of State Security''' ({{Langx|sq|Drejtoria e Sigurimit të Shtetit}}, DSSh), commonly called the '''''Sigurimi''' (which in Albanian means "Security")'', was the [[National security|state security]], [[Intelligence assessment|intelligence]] and [[secret police]] service of the [[People's Socialist Republic of Albania]].<ref name="Sigurimi i Shtetit 1944-1991">{{cite book |title= Sigurimi i Shtetit 1944-1991, historia e policisë politike të regjimit komunist |last=Dervishi |first=Kastriot |year=2012 |publisher=Shtëpia Botuese "55" |location=Tiranë |page=250 |oclc=841177824 }}</ref><ref name="Sigurimi">{{cite book |title=Encyclopaedia of the Muslim World |last=Taru Bahl |first=M. H. Syed |year=2003 |isbn=9788126114191 |page=176 |publisher=Anmol Publications |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ceW4dR78ubEC&q=Sigurimi&pg=PA176 |access-date=2011-04-14 }}{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Its proclaimed goal was maintaining state security of Albania, but ''[[de facto]]'' the Sigurimi served to suppress political activity among the populace and preserve the existing political system.<ref name="Sigurimi" /> It is regarded as one of the most feared and repressive agencies to ever exist.

In 2008 the [[Parliament of Albania|Albanian parliament]] discussed opening the so-called "Sigurimi files", but the [[Socialist Party of Albania]] contested it.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pauwels |first=An |date=2008-12-18 |title=Sigurimi-dossiers blijven gesloten in Albanië – MO* |url=https://www.mo.be/nieuws/sigurimi-dossiers-blijven-gesloten-albanie |access-date=2025-10-20 |website=MO* Magazine |language=nl}}</ref> A government commission, created in 2015, has been assigned the task of publicizing the Sigurimi files and identifying candidates for public office who had collaborated with the communist regime; however, as of early 2017, the commission has not yet started its work, and critics have pointed out that most of the files were probably destroyed long ago.<ref>{{cite news |title=As Albania Reckons with Its Communist Past, Critics Say It's Too Late |last=Brunwasser |first=Matthew |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=26 February 2017 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/26/world/europe/as-albania-reckons-with-its-communist-past-critics-say-its-too-late.html}}</ref>

==History==
While recent data places the Sigurimi's official foundation on 10 December 1944 as the [[OZNA]] ('Department for Protection of the People'),<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dervishi |first=Kastriot |date=22 March 2017 |title=''Organet e Sigurimit të Shtetit u krijuan më 1944, por ja ç'vendosi Kuvendi Popullor'' |url=http://www.panorama.com.al/dervishi-organet-e-sigurimit-te-shtetit-u-krijuan-me-1944-por-ja-cvendosi-kuvendi-popullor/ |access-date=30 October 2019 |publisher=Panorama}}</ref> historian Robert Elsie has argued that its organisational roots go as far back as 19 March 1943.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Elsie |first=Robert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=haFlGXIg8uoC&q=Sigurimi+Robert+Elsie&pg=PA418 |title=Historical Dictionary of Albania |date=2010-03-19 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=9780810873803 |language=en}}</ref> [[Enver Hoxha]] credited the Sigurimi as instrumental in his faction's ability to gain power over other [[World War II in Albania|Albanian partisan groups]].{{citation needed|date=December 2015}} The People's Defense Division, formed in 1945 from [[Haxhi Lleshi]]'s most reliable resistance fighters, was the precursor to the Sigurimi's 5,000-strong uniformed internal security force. 

In 1989 the division was organized into five [[regiment]]s of [[mechanized infantry]] that could be ordered to quell any domestic disturbances posing a threat to the [[Party of Labour of Albania]] [[leadership]]. The Sigurimi had an estimated 30,000 officers, approximately 7,500 of them assigned to the [[Albanian People's Army|People's Army]].

The organization ceased to exist in name in July 1991 and was replaced by the [[SHIK]] (''National Informative Service''). In early 1992, information on the organization, responsibilities, and functions of the SHIK was not available in [[Western Bloc|Western]] publications. Some Western observers believed, however, that many of the officers and leaders of the SHIK had served in the Sigurimi and that the basic structures of the two organizations were similar.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}

==Activities==
The mission of the Sigurimi was to prevent counterrevolutions and to suppress [[Opposition (politics)|opposition]] to the existing political system. Although groups of Albanian [[émigré]]s sought Western support for their efforts to overthrow the [[Party of Labour of Albania|Communist government]] in the late 1940s and early 1950s, they quickly ceased to be a credible threat because of the effectiveness of the Sigurimi.

The activities of the Sigurimi were directed more toward political and ideological opposition than crimes against persons or property, unless the latter were sufficiently serious and widespread to threaten the regime. Its activities permeated Albanian society to the extent that every third citizen had either served time in labor camps or been interrogated by Sigurimi officers.{{citation needed|date=September 2015}} Sigurimi personnel were generally career volunteers, recommended by loyal party members and subjected to careful political and psychological screening before they were selected to join the service. They had an elite status and enjoyed many privileges designed to maintain their reliability and dedication to the party.

==Organization==
[[File:Former political prison in Girokaster.jpg|thumb|Former political prison in [[Gjirokastër]]. During Hoxha's regime political executions were common, and 988 people were killed by the regime and many more were sent to labour camps or persecuted.]]

The Sigurimi had a national headquarters and district headquarters in each of Albania's twenty-six districts.

It was further organized into sections covering political control, censorship, public records, prison camps, internal security troops, physical security, counterespionage, and foreign intelligence.

The political control section's primary function was monitoring the ideological correctness of party members and other citizens. It was responsible for purging the party, government, military, and its own apparatus of individuals closely associated with [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]], the [[Soviet Union]], or [[China]] after Albania broke from successive alliances with each of those countries. One estimate indicated that at least 170 communist party [[Politburo]] or Central Committee members were executed as a result of the Sigurimi's investigations. The political control section was also involved in an extensive program of monitoring private telephone conversations.

The [[censorship]] section operated within the press, radio, newspapers, and other communications media as well as within cultural societies, schools, and other organizations.

[[File:Museum_of_Leaves,_Tirana.jpg|thumb|230px|[[Museum of Secret Surveillance|Museum of Leaves]] in Tirana, Albania]]
The public records section administered government documents and statistics, primarily social and economic statistics that were handled as state secrets.

The prison camps section was charged with the political reeducation of inmates and the evaluation of the degree to which they posed a danger to society. Local police supplied guards for fourteen prison camps throughout the country.

The physical security section provided guards for important party and government officials and installations.

The [[Counterintelligence|counterespionage]] section was responsible for neutralizing foreign intelligence operations in Albania as well as domestic movements and parties opposed to the [[Party of Labour of Albania]].

Finally, the foreign intelligence section maintained personnel abroad and at home to obtain intelligence about foreign capabilities and intentions that affected Albania's national security. Its officers occupied cover positions in Albania's foreign diplomatic missions, trade offices, and cultural centers.

==Directors==
[[File:Koçi Xoxe.jpg|thumb|180px|[[Koçi Xoxe]]]]
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="3" style="border:1px solid #000000; font-size:88%; line-height: 1.5em;"
|-
|'''{{underline|No.}}'''
|'''{{underline|Name}}'''
|colspan="2"|{{center|'''{{underline|Term in office}}'''}}
|-
|align=center|1
|[[Koçi Xoxe]]
|14 December 1944
|22 March 1946
|-
|align=center|2
|[[Nesti Kerenxhi]]
|2 April 1946
|February 1948
|-
|align=center|3
|[[Vaskë Koleci]]
|8 March 1948
|30 October 1948
|-
|align=center|4
|[[Beqir Ndou]]
|1 November 1948
|9 March 1949
|-
|align=center|5
|[[Kadri Hazbiu]]
|9 March 1950
|1 August 1954
|-
|align=center|6
|[[Mihallaq Ziqishti]]
|1 August 1954
|4 May 1962
|-
|align=center|7
|[[Rexhep Kolli]]
|5 May 1962
|15 May 1967
|-
|align=center|8 
|[[Feçor Shehu]]
|15 May 1967
|31 December 1969
|-
|align=center|9
|[[Lelo Sinaj]]
|1 January 1970
|15 May 1972
|-
|align=center|10
|[[Muço Saliu]]
|16 May 1972
|28 February 1974
|-
|align=center|–
|[[Feçor Shehu]]
|1 March 1974
|15 January 1980
|-
|align=center|11
|[[Kadri Gojashi]]
|16 January 1980
|4 April 1982
|-
|align=center|–
|[[Rexhep Kolli]]
|4 April 1982
|23 June 1982
|-
|align=center|12
|[[Pëllumb Kapo]]
|24 June 1982
|15 October 1982
|-
|align=center|13
|[[Zylyftar Ramizi]]
|16 October 1982
|31 March 1987
|-
|align=center|14
|[[Zef Loka]]
|1 April 1987
|15 February 1988
|-
|align=center|–
|[[Zylyftar Ramizi]]
|15 February 1988
|31 January 1989
|-
|align=center|15
|[[Frederik Ymeri]]
|1 February 1989
|31 August 1990
|-
|align=center|16
|[[Nerulla Zebi]]
|31 August 1990
|15 August 1991
|-
|}

==See also==
* [[AIDSSH (Albania)|AIDSSH]]
* [[SHIK]]
* [[SHISH]]
* [[Museum of Secret Surveillance]]
* [[Operation Valuable]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
* [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/altoc.html Library of Congress Country Study] of Albania{{spaced ndash}}Data as of April 1992

{{Law enforcement in Albania}}
{{Secret police of Communist Europe|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:Government agencies of Albania]]
[[Category:Albanian intelligence agencies]]
[[Category:Dissolved government agencies of Albania| ]]
[[Category:Defunct intelligence agencies]]
[[Category:Eastern Bloc intelligence agencies]]
[[Category:Law enforcement in communist states]]
[[Category:People's Socialist Republic of Albania]]
[[Category:Secret police]]
[[Category:Former Albanian intelligence agencies]]