Denmark to compensate Iraqi civilians tortured in 2004

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Europe

A Copenhagen-based court has ordered the Danish Ministry of Defense to compensate 18 Iraqi civilians who were tortured in a 2004 military operation carried out by Iraqi troops, during which Danish soldiers provided assistance.

Twenty-three plaintiffs were suing the Danish government after suffering at the hands of Iraqi soldiers who subjected them to "torture and inhuman treatment" while in custody during operation "Green Desert."

The raid took place in November 2004 in the southeastern Iraqi city of Basra, and involved Iraqi, British and Danish forces. At least 36 people were rounded up, with a number of them saying they were arrested by soldiers from Denmark who then handed them over to Iraqi police, according to Politiken newspaper.

Some detainees said they were beaten up, hanged on hooks and electrocuted, and blamed Denmark for complicity in their torture – accusations the Danish defense forces have rejected.

Iraqi forces "carried out the arrests and afterward we and the British searched for weapons. My men may have been in the houses, but I am sure that they did not arrest anyone," Col. John Dalby, who was the then commanding officer for the Danish battalion, was quoted by Politiken as saying in a 2011 article.

In Friday’s ruling, the Eastern High Court exonerated the Danish soldiers from torture, but said they knew the detainees were "in real danger of being exposed to inhumane treatment in terms of being hit and kicked" by the Iraqi forces.

There was no evidence that the Danish battalion could have predicted the "systemic torture and violence" that took place, it added.

Eighteen of the 23 were awarded 30,000 Danish kroner (4,600 US dollars).

Christian Harlang, who represented the Iraqi civilians, said the adjudication is "an important victory" because Western countries "in the future should observe the rules of not only military engagement, but also human rights as binding standards for military operations."

The country’s Defense Minister Hjort Frederiksen said he will appeal the ruling, calling it "problematic."

"It puts Denmark in a very difficult situation when we send out soldiers," he noted, adding that "in some situations it means that we cannot contribute to improving the security situation – hence the human rights situation – in conflict areas."

(Cover: Iraqi army soldier holds a Kalashnikov rifle. /VCG Photo)