Tortured Iraqis don’t have to pay collateral to sue military

Civilians who claim they were tortured by Iraqi forces after being arrested by the Danish military have cleared a major hurdle in their compensation case against the Ministry of Defence

The Supreme Court on Tuesday found that 11 Iraqis do not have to each pay 40,000 kroner in collateral in order to continue their case against the Ministry of Defence.

The Iraqis are attempting to sue the ministry for complicity in torture and abuse that they endured at the hands of Iraqi security forces following their arrest by Danish forces in 2004.

In 2011, they filed a suit against the Ministry of Defence for compensation which, in turn, demanded that they pay collateral to pursue their case.

Collateral was unreasonable
DIGNITY, the Danish institute against torture, stated in a press release that they were pleased that the Supreme Court found the collateral requirement to be unreasonable.

“Now we are one step closer to torture victims having their cases tried in court and getting justice for the atrocities they have suffered,” DIGNITY stated in a press release.

READ MORE: Video of Iraqi abuse filmed by Danish soldiers

The Supreme Court ruled in favour of the Iraqis due to the fact that the collateral requirement would have effectively stopped the case.

It argued that this was unreasonable given that the case raised questions about the responsibility of using military power abroad and that the Danish state had not shown any interest in accommodating the Defence Ministry’s demand for collateral.

More hurdles to come
Christian Harlang, the lawyer representing the 11 Iraqis, said he was satisfied that the collateral requirement had been overturned.

“I am pleased with the decision as it removed a considerable obstacle stopping the Iraqis from having their torture cases heard in a Danish court,” Harlang told Ritzau.

Harlang is now applying for the case to be granted free process, in which the state covers all the costs even if the Iraqis lose.

Arrested by Danes, tortured by Iraqis
The 11 men pursuing the case were among 36 who were arrested by Danish forces in a small Iraqi town during Operation Green Desert in November 2004.

They were arrested by Danish forces before being transferred into the custody of Iraqi forces, who the men claim tortured them before they were released without charge.

Field missions carried out by the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT) uncovered evidence that supported the allegations of torture and ill treatment,

In many of the cases, symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety were detected a full seven years after the ill-treatment, the IRCT stated in a press release.

Video footage confirms allegation
The military at first denied it had any video footage of the operation that could confirm the allegations of abuse.

But last October a video recorded by a Danish soldier emerged in which the Iraqi detainees are clearly shown being kicked and abused and in May the military finally admitted that the video was shot by a Danish soldier.

The video of Operation Green Desert that was recorded by a Danish soldier is embedded below.

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