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Servicio de Inteligencia Naval
(Naval Intelligence Service)

Servicio de Inteligencia Naval (Naval Intelligence Service) is the intelligence agency of the Argentine Navy. It is part of J-2 and of the General Staff of the Navy, and its director is a Vice Admiral IM (Infantería de Marina). Its duties include gathering naval intelligence relevant to Argentina.

The former Navy chief, Jorge Godoy, was convicted of making domestic intelligence. In December 2011, Godoy retired after being charged with domestic espionage against politicians, civic activists, and human rights organizations. According to the accusation, Godoy was culpable because the practice was widespread and continuous across the Navy. Article 248 of the Argentine Penal Code prohibits military intelligence agencies from investigating citizens, and from operating within the domestic sphere. As of August 2012, Godoy has been convicted and is awaiting sentencing.

The case began in March 2006 and found that from the military base Almirante Zar Trelew the intelligence tasks were performed. The trigger was a report of excabo Carlos Alegre, who then suffered all kinds of persecution until he had to leave the Navy and became a protected witness.

On 19 March 2006 the Buenos Aires-based think tank CELS (Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales) charged that the officials at the Admiral Zar Naval Airbase in Trelew, Chubut Province, Argentina, were spying on Argentine lawyers, politicians, union leaders and journalists. Following the public accusation made by CELS, the Argentine Navy Chief Admiral Jorge Godoy closed ten intelligence offices in the area, dismissed two officers, and suspended all Naval intelligence activity in the country to facilitate the investigation lead by Defense Minister Nilda Garre. Chubut Governor Mario Das Neves appeared in court on March 20 representing the Province as plaintiff in the case. On March 23 it was announced that the entire naval airbase would be closed.

The details of domestic espionage surfaced when a military informant approached CELS. Supported by physical evidence, the informant told CELS that the military base had been spying on lawyers and other individuals involved in the case of the "Trelew Massacre", a recently re-opened human rights case against 11 military officers which CELS is following. The case concerns the murder of 16 political prisoners at the Admiral Zar Naval Airbase in 1972, and was being pursued by family members of the deceased. Pochak alledged the spying was an attempt to impede the investigation given that "the very same base where the espionage is done is where the massacre happened." Pochak also said that according to the informant's information, which included files of private information and detailed conversations, there was proof that the military intelligence units were spying on other invididuals such as the provincial governor and even Defense Minister Garre.

CELS called for similar investigations into the Army and the Air Force. Human rights groups such as CELS used this as evidence that the military had not fundamentally changed its attitude about domestic espionage.

Media reports of the investigation did not indicate the quality, quantity or time period of the alleged intelligencce files at the Admiral Zar Naval Airbase. It is possible that hardcore anti-military elements in the government were using these allegations for another round of purges in the military's senior ranks.