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### Viewing cable 08REYKJAVIK116, ICELAND: PARLIAMENT APPROVES RESOLUTION CONDEMNING GUANTANAMO

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
08REYKJAVIK116 | 2008-06-20 14:02 | 2011-01-13 05:05 | CONFIDENTIAL | Embassy Reykjavik

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    VZCZCXRO4406
    PP RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
    DE RUEHRK #0116/01 1721456
    ZNY CCCCC ZZH
    P 201456Z JUN 08
    FM AMEMBASSY REYKJAVIK
    TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3699
    INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
    RUEKDIA/DIA WASHDC
    RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC

` `

    C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 REYKJAVIK 000116

    SIPDIS

    DEPT FOR EUR/NB, S/CT, L, DRL

    E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/18/18
    TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PHUM KPAO IC
    SUBJECT: ICELAND: PARLIAMENT APPROVES RESOLUTION CONDEMNING GUANTANAMO

    REF:  SECTO 003 DTG 070102Z JUN 08

    Classified by Amb Carol van Voorst for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

    ¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY: Iceland's parliament unanimously passed a
    non-binding resolution on May 30 calling for the closure of the U.S.
    detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. The resolution further called
    for the Government of Iceland to convey that message to the U.S.
    government; Iceland's Foreign Minister did so later that day during
    her meeting with visiting Secretary of State Rice.  Given the timing,
    news of the resolution and the issue of Guantanamo Bay dominated the
    press coverage of the Secretary's visit.  Some media - implicitly
    criticizing the FM -- have since speculated that the resolution and
    its timing irritated the U.S. enough to scuttle hopes of U.S. support
    for Iceland's UN Security Council bid.  END SUMMARY.

    ¶2.  (U) In the early morning hours of May 30, the Althingi (Icelandic
    Parliament) unanimously voted in favor of a non-binding resolution
    which calls for the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.
    The resolution cites the "inhumane treatment of prisoners" as a
    justification to close the facility. The GOI is also charged with
    communicating the position of the Althingi to U.S. authorities,
    according to the resolution. (Full resolution text para 8)  All
    political parties represented in the Althingi supported the
    resolution, which led to a vote of 52 in favor, zero opposing, and 11
    not present. Nine parliamentarians sponsored the bill, all of whom
    belong to the Left-Green Party of Iceland. The Althingi Foreign
    Affairs Committee approved the resolution on May 28, sending the
    resolution to a full floor vote the following day.

    ¶3.  (C) Although the resolution passed on the eve of Secretary Rice's
    visit, this timing seemed more a function of the legislative calendar
    than an effort to send a political message.  The resolution was
    originally introduced in February and had been lingering in the
    Althingi since then, until the legislature's last-week sprint to
    finish its work before the summer recess beginning on May 30.
    However, the timing ensured that Guantanamo Bay would be a central
    issue in coverage of the visit.  (Comment:  Ministry contacts have
    confirmed to post that they failed to realize how much the issue
    would overwhelm other reporting on the visit and as such had not
    tried to intervene in the legislative calendar.  End Comment.)  Press
    and blog speculation about whether or not Foreign Minister Ingibjorg
    Solrun Gisladottir would present the Secretary with a copy of the
    resolution began immediately after the Foreign Affairs Committee vote
    on May 28. That said, the final text incorporated several amendments
    softening the language to remove a description of the Guantanamo
    facility's operations as "illegal" and eliminating a call for the
    Icelandic Government to work in international fora towards the
    facility's closure.

    ¶4.  (U) FM Gisladottir raised Guantanamo with Secretary Rice during
    their May 30 meeting and passed a copy of the resolution to the
    Secretary (reftel). In her comments to the press afterwards, FM
    Gisladottir confirmed that she did indeed bring up concerns about
    Guantanamo while meeting with the Secretary. When asked about the
    resolution by the press, Secretary Rice stated that she strongly
    objected to the notion that there are human rights violations
    occurring at Guantanamo Bay. The Secretary also noted that returning
    inmates to their country of origin is quite complicated. She added
    that there have been instances of former detainees engaging in
    attacks on US forces and innocent civilians. Finally, Secretary Rice
    suggested that members of the Althingi read the OSCE Parliamentary
    Committee report on Guantanamo Bay.  (Full press conference
    transcript: http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2008/05/105 447.htm)

    ¶5.  (SBU) As expected, Icelandic press coverage of the Secretary's
    visit was heavily focused on the Guantanamo Bay resolution. Most
    print articles mentioned that FM Gisladottir provided Secretary Rice
    with a copy of the resolution; most also noted the Secretary's
    rebuttal of the charge of human rights abuses at Guantanamo Bay. In
    response, a June 2 editorial in daily paper of record Morgunbladid
    entitled, "Condescending Rice," stated that Secretary Rice had a
    condescending attitude toward the Althingi's resolution.

    ¶6.  (C) More provocatively, a June 9 editorial comment in
    Morgunbladid claimed that Secretary Rice was angry and caught off
    guard by the resolution. The article went on to say that the
    relationship between the Secretary and the Foreign Minister was
    greatly damaged due to this resolution, and speculated that as a
    result the U.S. might not support Iceland in elections to the UN
    Security Council this fall. Embassy protested to Morgunbladid and
    Ambassador immediately communicated to the Ministry of Foreign
    Affairs (MFA) and other political actors that this story was false
    and in no way sourced from USG participants in the meeting.
    Separately, the MFA's Counsellor for Human Rights issues told Pol
    Chief that the resolution was "silly" and did not offer a useful
    contribution to the debate about how international law should handle
    the detainees or similar cases.  This tendency to focus on the
    emotional principle of closing Guantanamo rather than the legal issue

    REYKJAVIK 00000116  002 OF 002

    of the detainees' cases was reinforced in the scant local coverage
    (mostly translated wire reports) of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling
    on June 12 in Boumedine v. Bush.

    ¶7.  (C) COMMENT:  Detainees at Guantanamo continue to be a hot topic
    here, and as elsewhere in Europe there is a broad consensus that the
    detention facility should be closed, with no critical examination of
    how the law should best deal with the detainees' cases.  In this
    climate the Althingi's unanimous vote on the resolution was nearly
    inevitable.  However, as the June 9 editorial comment indicates, all
    news is local, and some have seized upon the issue as a chance to
    criticize the MFA for allegedly sloppy handling of Iceland's foreign
    affairs. We have since seized every opportunity to both point out
    that the Secretary's conversation with FM Gisladottir was simply a
    frank talk between allies as well as encourage a sincere discussion
    of the complex legal principles involved.  END COMMENT.

    ¶8.  (U) Text of Althingi resolution:  The Althingi condemns the
    inhumane treatment of prisoners at the US detention camp at
    Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, urges that the camp be closed and charges the
    Government of Iceland to communicate this position to the US
    authorities.

    End text.

    van Voorst

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