{"id":653,"date":"2005-03-24T22:01:56","date_gmt":"2005-03-25T04:01:56","guid":{"rendered":"\/?p=653"},"modified":"2005-03-24T22:02:07","modified_gmt":"2005-03-25T04:02:07","slug":"us-deserter-denied-canada-asylum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/targetcentermass.net\/?p=653","title":{"rendered":"US Deserter Denied Canada Asylum"},"content":{"rendered":"

I blogged<\/a> in December about Jeremy Hinzman, the coward who had deserted his comrades as they went to Iraq, instead applying in Canada for refugee status. Well, Canada’s decision was handed down<\/a> today, and Hinzman’s hopes of staying yellow in the Great White North were denied.<\/p>\n

A former US soldier who quit the army in protest against the Iraq war has been denied refugee status in Canada.<\/p>\n

Jeremy Hinzman, 26, was the first to receive an answer from a number of US deserters seeking Canadian residency.<\/p>\n

Mr Hinzman, who served in Afghanistan in a non-combat role, left the 82nd Airborne Regiment when he was deployed to Iraq.<\/p>\n

Correspondents say the decision may affect eight other ex-servicemen, but improve Canadian-US relations.<\/p>\n

In its judgement Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board said Mr Hinzman had not convinced its members that he would face persecution or cruel and unusual punishment if he were sent back to the US.<\/p>\n

Board member Brian Goodman wrote in the judgement: “The treatment does not amount to a violation of a fundamental human right, and the harm is not serious.”<\/p>\n

Mr Hinzman’s lawyer said he planned to appeal, and that they remained confident of success.<\/p>\n

“He is disappointed. We don’t believe that people should be imprisoned for doing what they believe is illegal<\/strong>,” Jeffry House told Canadian TV.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Man, I really hope that is a misquote.<\/p>\n

Mr House also settled in Canada after dodging the US military draft during the Vietnam War.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Well, maybe it’s not.<\/p>\n

If Mr Hinzman’s appeal is not successful, his final option would be a direct plea to Canada’s immigration minister for leave to remain on compassionate grounds.<\/p>\n

He faces up to five years in prison if he fails and is returned to the US.<\/p>\n

Mr Hinzman fled his unit in January 2004, shortly before the 82nd Airborne was due in Iraq.<\/p>\n

He had served three years in the army, but had asked to be classified as a conscientious objector ahead of deployment to Afghanistan in 2002.<\/p>\n

Mr Hinzman now lives with his wife and young son in Toronto, where his case has been championed by Quakers and anti-war activist groups.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I have little sympathy for a volunteer who runs out on his fellow soldiers. Okay, maybe a touch of sympathy, as I’ll stand by my original conclusion from December:<\/p>\n

Should any such deserters elect to return, I would like to see Hinzman and his ilk given a choice: prison or finish service in one of the historical roles of conscientious objector, such as a medic or chaplain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s assistant. See, I have a heart, especially for Quaker Buddhists.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

See, I have a heart.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I blogged in December about Jeremy Hinzman, the coward who had deserted his comrades as they went to Iraq, instead applying in Canada for refugee status. Well, Canada’s decision was handed down today, and Hinzman’s hopes of staying yellow in the Great White North were denied. A former US soldier who quit the army in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,2,22,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-military","category-north-america","category-war-on-terror"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/targetcentermass.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/targetcentermass.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/targetcentermass.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/targetcentermass.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/targetcentermass.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/targetcentermass.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/targetcentermass.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/targetcentermass.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/targetcentermass.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}