Concsientious Objecter faces Persecution

Canadian refugee board refuses U.S. military war resister Jeremy Hinzman asylum


Hinzman family

Hinzman wouldn't face 'cruel and unusual' punishment for avoiding the war in Iraq if he's returned home, adjudicator decides
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Timothy Appleby
The Globe and Mail (Canada)
March 25, 2005

A U.S. military deserter who views the war in Iraq as "criminal" lost his bid for political asylum yesterday when the Immigration and Refugee Board said it was unconvinced he faces persecution if he returns home.

In a written ruling awaited keenly by dozens of other U.S. war resisters believed to have come to Canada, at least seven of whom have filed similar claims, adjudicator Brian Goodman concluded Jeremy Hinzman, 26, had not made his case.

"Removal to the U.S. would not subject [the Hinzman family] personally to a risk to their lives or to a risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment," said the ruling, posted on the board's website.

"Hinzman has brought forward no evidence to support his allegation that he would not be accorded the full protection of the law pursuant to the court- martial process."

Addressing an anti-war rally later in the day, across the street from the U.S. consulate in downtown Toronto, Mr. Hinzman appeared unfazed.

"I assumed this would be the outcome, prior to the hearing, when it was deemed that the illegality of the war was irrelevant," he told several dozen cheering, banner-waving supporters.

Asked about his next move, Mr. Hinzman said: "I feel fine. I'm going to have a good three-day weekend with my family, I'm going to go running on Saturday, and start an appeal process on Monday."

That will mean asking the Federal Court to review the board's decision.

Mr. Hinzman, who now works as a bicycle courier, drew international attention after he deserted the 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Bragg, N.C., 14 months ago and fled to Toronto, just days before his unit was deployed to Iraq.

At his three-day refugee hearing in December, he contended that if he killed or injured anyone in Iraq his actions would amount to atrocities because the conflict was illegal, and hence criminal.

That argument, however, was undercut when Mr. Goodman declared that the legality or otherwise of the conflict was beyond his terms of reference.

Although up to 125,000 U.S. draft-dodgers were granted refuge in Canada during the Vietnam War, Mr. Hinzman had, like the other seven asylum- seekers, volunteered for military service.

Together with his wife, Nga Nguyen, and their young son, Liam, now 2, Mr. Hinzman arrived in Toronto in January of 2004. His knowledge of Canada was limited to what he had gleaned from CBC radio broadcasts, he later said.

In November of 2000, he enlisted in the U.S. Army for four years, reached the rank of specialist and was an infantryman when he deserted. His decided to flee his homeland after the U.S. military rejected his application for conscientious- objector status.

Mr. Hinzman had filed that application while serving in Afghanistan, in a non-combatant role; he said he sought conscientious-objector status rather than a discharge from the army because he wanted to fulfill his commitment.

He has also acknowledged that one of the attractions of military service was it would finance a university education.

As a returned deserter, Mr. Hinzman faces a court-martial and up to five years behind bars. If past sentences are a guide, however, his prison term would likely be closer to one year.

"We're disappointed; it's a bit of a blow for the rights of conscientious objectors," said Jane Orion Smith, executive director of the Quakers' Canadian Friends Service Committee, which lobbied on Mr. Hinzman's behalf and provided the family with temporary accommodation before they rented an apartment downtown.

"We don't encourage people to come, but if they do arrive, obviously we're going to support them."

Mr. Hinzman's failure to get asylum may reflect a misunderstanding about what constitutes persecution, Ms. Orion Smith suggested.

"People have a hard time wrapping their heads around the idea that just to be imprisoned, when you refuse to fight in an illegal war, is a form of persecution," she said. "Even if that doesn't involve grievous physical harm."


Links

[size=+1]War Resisters Support Campaign[/size]