Liability in Joint Military Operations—The Green Desert Case

Abstract

Almost all international military operations today are joint military operations where several states collaborate to carry out concrete operations, such as combat or arrest operations. This raises pertinent and difficult questions in relation to state responsibility if international law obligations are breached during the operation, not least: Which state or states are responsible? In June 2018, a Danish High Court found Denmark responsible in its complicity for Iraqi ill-treatment of 18 Iraqis who were detained by the Iraqi military in a joint Danish–Iraqi military operation in Iraq in November 2004. Danish soldiers did not exercise control over the Iraqi troops; the detainees were not captured by Danish soldiers or at any time subject to their control or jurisdiction; and Danish forces did not participate in or witness any ill-treatment during the operation. Nevertheless, the Danish High Court found that the Danish defence forces were liable to pay compensation to the 18 Iraqi detainees because Danish defence forces ‘should have known’ that there was a real risk of Iraqi ill-treatment of detainees and paid to little attention to the risk when planning and participating in the operation. The article discusses the Danish High Court judgment. Is it a problem that the High Court decided the case on the basis of Danish compensation law and largely ignores international law standards? And would the Danish defence forces have been responsible if assessed on the basis of State responsibility standards in international law?