HM Treasury wrongly defines Icelanders as terrorists - the evidence
On Wednesday October 8th, the British Government invoked the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act of 2001 against the Icelandic bank Landsbanki, the Central Bank of Iceland and the Government of Iceland in the United Kingdom. This action was in effect directed against the people of Iceland.
As a result of this action, Landsbanki was placed on a list of regimes subjected to financial sanction by the British government, joining Al-Qaida, the Taliban, Belarus, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and 10 other organisations or countries known for political unrest or oppressive dictatorships.
Screenshot from HM-Treasury Website of Current Regimes subject to Financial Sanctions from Tuesday 21st October 2008
By invoking the Anti-Terrorist Act, the British government has caused a complete collapse of the Icelandic banking system, making it effectively impossible to transfer funds between Iceland and abroad. Given Iceland’s heavy dependence on import and export of goods and services, it is no surprise that this action is causing the Icelandic economy to collapse. While Brown temporarily gained in popularity from this action at home, the people of Iceland and companies with no direct link to Landsbanki are losing their livelihood.
On Tuesday evening 21st October, the Landsbanki bank was still on the list of financially sanctioned regimes. The “Icelanders are not terrorists” campaign was launched early on Wednesday morning 22nd October. In less than three days, more than 45,000 individuals added their names to the campaign’s petition against the British government’s action. This amounts to 15% of the entire population of Iceland.
Screenshot from HM-Treasury Website of Current Regimes subject to Financial Sanctions after change from Wednesday 22nd October 2008
Curiously, at about 4pm on the same day the campaign was launched, the HM Treasury updated its website, moving Landsbanki into a curious new category of regimes subjected to financial sanctions. These changes to the Treasury website are merely cosmetic. The financial transactions of Icelandic companies are still effectively frozen in the United Kingdom and in most other places of the world, primarily as a result of the actions of Prime Minister Brown and Chancellor Darling.
These changes raise two very important issues:
• By making these changes, the British government is effectively admitting that it has for two weeks wrongly defined Icelanders as terrorists.
• If the British government now states that these measures have nothing to do with terrorism, why was the Anti-terrorist legislation invoked at all?
The fight to clear the name of Icelanders will go on until the British government repeals the invocation of the Anti-terrorism Act in order to help restore the world’s trust in the people of Iceland and its businesses.