HUMINT

HUMINT (an abbreviation of Human Intelligence) is intelligence information got from personal contacts. It is a term used in the spy community of the NATO countries.

Sources

Sources may be neutral, friendly, or hostile. They may or may not know they are giving information.[1][2][3][4] Examples of HUMINT sources are:

  • Advisors or foreign internal defence personnel working with the host nation forces or populations;
  • Diplomatic reporting by accredited diplomats (e.g. military attachés);
  • Espionage: secret reporting, using agents, couriers, cutouts;
  • Military attachés: getting information is their job;
  • Non-governmental organizations (NGOs);
  • Prisoners of war (POWs) or other detainees;
  • Refugees;
  • Routine patrolling (by military police, etc);
  • Talking to travellers (e.g. the CIA Domestic Contact Service).

References

  1. ↑ Benedict, Ruth 1989. The Chrysanthemum and the Sword: patterns of Japanese culture. Mariner Books. ISBN 0-395-50075-3. Very widely used source for interpreting Japanese culture.
  2. ↑ Compos, Don The interrogation of suspects under arrest. (pdf), Studies in Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency. [1] Archived 2020-10-17 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ↑ Walton, Douglas 2003. The interrogation as a type of dialogue. Journal of Pragmatics 35: 1771. [2]
  4. ↑ Skerker, Michael 2010. An ethics of interrogation. Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press.