Country Reports on Terrorism 2015 - Sweden

Overview: The United States and Sweden maintained good cooperation on counterterrorism and law enforcement issues. U.S. agencies worked with their Swedish counterparts in 2015 to improve information sharing and the evaluation of terrorist-related information. Sweden is also active within the EU, UN, and Council of Europe on countering violent extremism and the recruitment of foreign terrorist fighters.

The Swedish Security Services (SAPO) is concerned with the number of foreign terrorist fighters who have left Sweden to join terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq. Of the 280 individuals who traveled, some 40 were killed in action, 125 remained in the country, and 115 have returned to Sweden. Thirty-five of the foreign terrorist fighters were females.

Foreign terrorist fighters in Sweden have been recruited mainly through word of mouth or online by friends and/or family members. Foreign terrorist fighters travelling to Syria and Iraq from Sweden were usually young males of immigrant background, but generally not of Syrian descent. Females who traveled to Syria and Iraq either traveled alone or with male companions or husbands.

SAPO views the returnees with specific concern as they could potentially plan an attack in Sweden or could radicalize and recruit others for travel. SAPO reported to Swedish media that it was conducting several "pre-investigations" related to individuals who have returned from conflict areas with fighting experience.

The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency continuously reached out to various agencies and communities to develop awareness of the foreign terrorist fighter threat. The Counterterrorism Cooperative Council, consisting of 13 government agencies, coordinated Sweden's interagency counterterrorism cooperation. The National Center for Terrorism Threat Assessment produced long- and short-term strategic assessments of the terrorist threat against Sweden and Swedish interests. SAPO monitored returned foreign terrorist fighters to evaluate their condition.

On November 18, SAPO raised the national alert level to "four" (or "high"), just below the highest level of five ("very high"), indicating a real threat from a serious perpetrator with means to carry out an attack. This was the first time in modern history that Sweden had a level four alert.

Sweden is a member of the Global Coalition to Counter the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and has made generous humanitarian contributions to ISIL-impacted populations in Iraq.

Johan Gustafsson, a Swedish citizen who was kidnapped by al-Qa'ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) when visiting Mali in November 2011, remained in AQIM's detention at the end of 2015. Gustafsson was last seen in an AQIM-released video allegedly made on October 20.

Legislation, Law Enforcement, and Border Security: Sweden's legislation criminalizes inciting terrorist acts, recruiting to terrorist organizations, and providing terrorism training. While five people have been convicted under these laws, only two convictions have been stayed following appeals. In all of the dismissed cases, the courts deemed that there was insufficient evidence to prove that the defendants would have carried out their terrorist plots had they not been intercepted by law enforcement officials.

In 2015, Swedish law enforcement reorganized to unite the country's current 21 separate county police departments into one national agency with seven regions. This reorganization aimed to streamline police work through clearer guidance and centralization of law enforcement efforts.

In order to implement UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 2178, 2199 and the UN 1267/1989/2253 ISIL (Da'esh) and al-Qa'ida sanctions regime, the Swedish government proposed new legislation in December with new counterterrorism provisions, including measures to criminalize travel to support terrorist organizations and the financing of terrorism, and measures to increase information exchange within Swedish intelligence channels and with partner countries. Within the EU Commission, Sweden continued to strongly advocate for a targeted revision of the Schengen Borders Code to provide for more thorough checks of EU nationals on entry into Schengen, including mandatory verification of biometric information.

Sweden also participated in the EU Schengen working group and used the Schengen Information System II for information sharing, port of entry screening, lost and stolen passport information, and watchlisting. Under the auspices of the Passenger Name Record (PNR) Agreement between the EU and the United States, Sweden collects and shares PNR information from commercial flights.

In response to UNSCR 2199, the Nordic culture ministers met in May and adopted a declaration to curb the illegal trade of cultural objects from Iraq and Syria. The Nordic Council also decided to host a conference on the illegal trade of cultural objects in Oslo in December.

With the aim of improving border checks, Sweden has introduced provisions that allow the Swedish Police Authority to request passenger information to perform identity checks (Advance Passenger Information, from any carrier that transports passengers to Sweden by air from a state outside the Schengen zone. This information provides greater opportunities to identify travelers with links to terrorism at an early stage. Sweden thereby complies with the undertakings set out in Directive 2004/82/EC on the obligation of carriers to communicate passenger data.

On November 12, the Government of Sweden announced that temporary internal border controls would be instituted due to the massive influx of asylum seekers into the country. The border controls consisted of spot checks at the Öresund Bridge to Denmark and at ports connecting Sweden to Germany via ferries. Such temporary border controls are permitted under the Schengen Border Code if a "serious threat to public policy or internal security" exists, which the Swedish government determined to be the case after consulting with the police and the Migration Agency.

On December 14, the Gothenburg District Court sentenced Hassan Al-Mandlawi (32-year-old from Iraq) and Al Amin Sultan (30-year-old from Ethiopia) to life in prison for "the crime of terrorism through murder" after it ruled that graphic video evidence showed the pair taking part in the beheadings of two people in Syria. The verdicts marked the first time foreign terrorist fighters were convicted in Sweden of crimes committed in Syria, and the first time individuals were convicted specifically for the crime of terrorism as opposed to the secondary charges of crimes against humanity and murder.

Countering the Financing of Terrorism: Sweden has been a member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) since 1990. A new penal provision for terrorism financing was proposed in 2015. The new provision will penalize those who collect, provide, or receive funds or other property in the knowledge that it is intended for a person or group of people who commit, attempt to commit, prepare, or participate in a particularly serious crime. Criminal culpability in these cases does not require that the funds or property be intended to be used for a particularly serious crime, but instead focus on the recipient of the financing and the individual's intent to prepare or commit serious crimes. The proposed scale of penalties for ordinary offenses is imprisonment for a maximum of two years.

In 2015, the Swedish Economic Crime Authority and the Prosecution Development Centre prepared a memorandum to provide prosecutors with knowledge and guidance on how to apply the new legislation.

For further information on money laundering and financial crimes, see the 2016 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR), Volume II, Money Laundering and Financial Crimes: http://www.state.gov/j/inl/rls/nrcrpt/index.htm.

Countering Violent Extremism: The Swedish government appointed its first ever National Coordinator for Safeguarding Democracy from Violent Extremism in 2014. The Swedish government has described its approach to countering violent extremism (CVE) as attempting to address underlying factors behind radicalization. The government seeks to de-polarize Swedish society as a necessary step to counter violent extremism, believing that people who do not feel welcome and integrated in Swedish society might turn to violent extremism. An additional US $1 million was allocated for the setup of a support hotline.

The Swedish government has instructed authorities to strengthen efforts to work against radicalization and has been active on issues related to countering violent extremism within the EU. Sweden belongs to the EU-9, a group within the EU that focuses on the foreign terrorist fighter issue.

National Coordinator against Violent Extremism, Mona Sahlin, announced a CVE pilot program to open Knowledge Centers in January 2016 to aid the cities of Stockholm, Gothenburg, Örebro, and Borlänge. The Knowledge Centers will provide information about violent extremism and advice on how to prevent it. Concerned relatives of individuals who are on the brink of being radicalized and those who seek to leave such an environment will be able to turn to the centers to seek support and will not be shuffled between different authorities and agencies.

International and Regional Cooperation: Sweden is a member of the EU and participated in an ad hoc group consisting of several member states to focus on foreign terrorist fighter issues. In May 2015, the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers adopted an action plan entitled "The Fight Against Violent Extremism and Radicalisation Leading to Terrorism." The action plan contained measures regarding the international legal framework for combating terrorism and violent extremism and measures for preventive work. Sweden has been active in ensuring that the action plan focused on areas where the Council of Europe added value, primarily in preventive initiatives.

In 2015, Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden established a working group to share expertise to prevent violent extremism. The ministers adopted a joint, non-binding declaration of intent in Oslo in January 2015.

Sweden participated in the European Programme for Critical Infrastructure Protection. The goal was to improve the protection of critical infrastructure in the EU network and information security across the EU (the NIS Directive). All member states were required to provide a national network and information security strategy and ensure there was an agency structure to tackle information security issues. The member states were also asked to identify public and individual subjects ("operators") that could provide critical services on electronic networks and information systems. The Government of Sweden stated that it would act to ensure that the NIS Directive is adopted.

Sweden continued to contribute to counterterrorism capacity-building projects through its development aid work carried out by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, and also via funding to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime-Terrorism Prevention Branch and the OSCE. Sweden supported the EU's work with capacity-building projects in prioritized countries and regions, such as Pakistan, Yemen, the Horn of Africa, the Maghreb, and the Sahel. Sweden provided trainers to the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali.

Sweden is a member of a number of multinational forums and collaborative groups, including the Counter-Terrorism Group (CTG). The Group comprises security and intelligence services from all the EU Member States, Norway, and Switzerland. EUROPOL is tasked with helping its Member States to prevent and combat serious cross-border crime and terrorism in Europe. EUROPOL has started work to combine its various areas of expertise in counterterrorism into one department (the European Counterterrorism Centre) to further support Member States.