Over the last few years the Independence Party/Progressive Party government has introduced a series of measures reinforcing border controls and limiting the rights of immigrants. With this latest bill, they have begun increasing the latitude allowed cops in their “investigations.”

The legislation would remove requirements for police officers’ names to be listed in police reports. Cops can decide whether to videotape interrogations and how long to keep the tape if they do.

In a separate bill Bjarnason proposes strengthening forensics departments and centralizing police “technical data” into a national database.

The minister championed these measures before the National Police Association Congress April 13. He also spoke on the official formation—made public March 1—of a Special Force under the National Commission of the Icelandic Police, the official name for the State Police. Based on a special unit of the Reykjavik city police but tripling it in size, this force will be provided with the latest word in weapons and equipment.

Two opposition parties, the Social Democratic Coalition and the Left Greens, have accused Bjarnason of taking steps to build an army in a country that does not have an official armed forces. Bjarnason denied the charge, but said, “There is not always a sharp distinction between the special force and armed forces.” Emphasizing the policing duties of the new unit, he told the Frettabladid newspaper that its responsibilities might include “dealing with riots and other specialized tasks.”

Another bill lays the basis for more efficient surveillance and policing of immigrants in Iceland. Bjarnason has claimed that present laws allow too much leeway for marriages of convenience that make it possible for the foreign-born to gain a residency permit or citizenship.

Among the organizations lodging protests have been the Multicultural Council and WOMEN, an organization of foreign-born women based in Reykjavik. The bill discriminates against immigrants, a WOMEN representative said, and dictates how “people should get to know each other and establish a family.”

The legislation would give police powers to search immigrants or their houses, without a court order, on suspicion of their having entered marriages of convenience. It stipulates that any person deported may be charged for the cost of their imprisonment. To cover these expenses, the individual’s personal valuables can be confiscated.

When individuals apply for residence in Iceland to reunite with their families, the immigration office can demand genetic proof of kinship. Katla Thorsteinsdóttir, a lawyer who opposes the bill, said in a radio interview that applicants themselves would clearly have to pay for such tests.

The Social Democratic Coalition and the Left Greens have voiced opposition to these measures, although they support restrictions on the foreign-born.

Both parties joined the government in the flurry of “antiterror” propaganda following the March 11 Madrid train bombings—used in part to justify the increased police powers. While speaking against the Anglo-American invasion in Iraq, they back an intervention under UN cover.

Neither of the two parties has objected to the unremitting buildup of a so-called Icelandic peacekeeping force, which expands continuously, drawing ever-greater sums from the yearly state budget—from 110 million kronur in 2003 to 245 million kronur in 2004 (100 kronur = US$1.30). The peacekeeping troops have been the advance guard of the Icelandic rulers’ increased involvement in imperialist military interventions abroad. Significantly, the government is included in the “coalition of the willing”—the list of 63 countries recognized by Washington as qualified to bid for reconstruction contracts in Iraq, on the grounds of their support for its occupation.

Icelandic so-called peacekeeping troops are active in other imperialist-led occupations. Having just handed the international airport in Pristina, Kosova, to United Nations troops, they are now preparing to take control of the international airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, by June 1. An Icelandic officer has been heading up the UN security apparatus in Liberia since last fall.  
 
 
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