NORWEGIAN MINISTRY OF JUSTICE CLAIMS TERRORISM

C O N F I D E N T I A L OSLO 000530 SIPDIS COPENHAGE PASS TO LEGATT E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/22/2018 TAGS: ASEC CVIS PINR PREL PTER NO SUBJECT: NORWEGIAN MINISTRY OF JUSTICE CLAIMS TERRORISM TOOLS IN PLACE REF: A. A: OSLO 351 ¶B. B:OSLO 308 ¶C. C:OSLO 303 ¶1. (C) Summary: In a September 15 meeting with the Deputy Minister of Justice Terje Pedersen, DCM stressed continued U.S. concern over Norway's counterterrorism approach, requested prompt attention to our proposed HSPD-6 agreement, and asked about any improvements in GON procedures regarding checking war criminal lists. Pedersen claimed that Norway's law-enforcement tools were sufficient for fighting terrorism, demurred on HSPD-6, said that in a recent meeting with DHS they had come to an agreement on PNR, and stated that improvements have been made on procedures for finding and prosecuting war criminals. Police Security Services (PST) Chief Jorn Holme's upcoming visit to Washington (October 6) is a good opportunity to press the point on HSPD-6 and on the GON's counterterrorism approach. End Summary Counter Terrorism and the Bhatti Case -------------- ¶2. (C) DCM carefully but forcefully laid out U.S. concerns with Norway's counter-terrorism approach, citing the Bhatti trial (reftel B) as an example of our concerns. Pedersen said that he could not comment on the Bhatti trial, as it is under appeal, but that in general the GON considers terrorism a criminal issue and that Norway's law enforcement experts view the current legal and investigatory tools as sufficient. (Note: This matches what PST Chief Holme said to the Ambassador in early summer and indicates a strong desire to keep efforts to combat terrorism solely in the criminal justice system.) DCM mentioned specific concerns and asked if the GON would be reviewing counterterrorism legislation in light of these problems. Pedersen said it was too soon to make any conclusions about a counterterrorism law used only once. DCM repeated that we remained concerned and suggested we revisit these issues once the Bhatti cases is concluded and MOJ officials could analyze the results and speak openly about them. HSPD-6 -------------- ¶3. (C) DCM stressed the importance of information sharing in combating terrorism and asked what the status was on agreeing to the information exchanges mentioned in HSPD-6. Pedersen said this was an issue that should be handled by the MFA, but when we reminded him that the USG had approached PST with this proposal some time ago, Pedersen said that he would follow up with PST and let us know who would handle it. Trip to Washington. Progress on PNR? -------------- - ¶4. (C) Pedersen had recently returned from Washington, where he met with Stewart Baker at the Department of Homeland Security, with FEMA, the Justice Department and visited the NCTC. At Justice Pedersen discussed how Norway could contribute to establishing the rule of law in post conflict situations. At the NCTC he was given a tour and was happy to hear that cooperation with Norway is very good. At DHS Pedersen claimed that he reached an agreement with Stewart over PNR, with both sides agreeing to an exchange of notes with would mention the EU PNR agreement but not include all features of it. Pedersen said that the need for a note was political and that he expected the process to be completed relatively soon. Note: Press reports on the supposed PNR agreement came out the next day and was quite critical of U.S. privacy protections. Improvement on War Criminals -------------- 5.(C) After DCM inquired about the apparant lack of procedures to check asylum seekers and other immigrants against international lists of war criminals or terrorists (see reftel C),Pedersen claimed that improvements have been made. He pointed to the ongoing trial of a suspected war criminal from the Balkans as an indication that the GON is taking seriously its obligations. Disaster Preparedness -------------- ¶6. (C) In his recent trip to Washington, Pedersen visited FEMA and was impressed by the thorough preparations he saw for hurricane Ike. DCM thanked Pedersen for the good cooperation the Embassy has had with Norway's Disaster Preparedness Agency (DSB) and asked if DSB's recommendations for a unified point of contact for communications with foreign embassies had been established. Pedersen said that the Oslo Police's embassy security section had been given the responsibility to communicate with embassies in the case of a disaster or terror attack. (Note: This is in reality not a change from past procedures. Although cooperation with the Oslo Police is good, the embassy security office is thinly staffed and to our knowledge has no centralized system for notifying embassies. If an officer is sick or on leave, there has been little or no backup system in place. End Note) ¶7. (C) Comment: Consistent multilevel pressure is needed to try to turn the view held by most GON officials that terrorism is an American problem. PST Chief Holme's October visit to Washington will be an excellent opportunity to press him to agree on HSPD-6 and to re-enforce the importance of taking the terrorist threat seriously. WHITNEY