AWOL US soldier pleas for refuge in Canada
Mon Dec 6, 1:51 PM ET Canada - AFP
TORONTO (AFP) - A US soldier who walked out on the 82nd Airborne Division and his country after learning he was being sent to Iraq (news - web sites), launched a long-shot bid for political refuge in Canada.
Jeremy Hinzman, 26, a veteran of the US-led war in Afghanistan (news - web sites), appeared before Canada\'s Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) to formally plead that he would face persecution if sent home to the United States.
"I was in a culture that looked upon the army as a good thing to do. The missions that they carried out were with the aim of (doing) good and spreading democracy," South Dakota-born Hinzman said.
"To me that was more meaningful than just working in the workaday world," said Hinzman, who admitted he also enlisted for four years in January 2001 to take advantage of a US army college sponsorship fund.
His case, and that of another fugitive American soldier Brandon Hughey, has ignited controversy and some sympathy in Canada, which opposed the Iraq war and refused to send troops to the conflict.
But it has also raised fears that a positive ruling could spark a flood of US deserters across the border, as the toll of the Iraq war and occupation, which has already cost more than 1,000 US lives, deepens.
Odds against a decision favourable to Hinzman however, are seen as slim, as no such verdict has ever been handed down to a US soldier who sought refuge in Canada.
The former soldier appeared at the IRB, wearing a black sweater and brown pants, still with a short military-style haircut, accompanied by his Laotian-born wife Nga Nguyen and three-year-old son Liam.
Outside, a knot of anti-war supporters, some waving banners reading "Let him stay" braved a blizzard to cheer as he entered the building.
Early arguments on Monday covered legal arguments over evidence to be admitted in the hearing, expected to last three days.
Hinzman was later expected to explain why he quit the US army, and a US Marine Corps sergeant was due to be called by his lawyer to detail alleged war crimes by US soldiers in Iraq to back up the plea.
The IRB was set up to consider the merits of refugee claims at arms length from the Canadian government.
Presiding member Brian Goodman will judge whether Hinzman would face persecution if sent back to the United States by dint of his political or religious beliefs or his status as an objector to US military action.
The judgement will also question whether Hinzman will face "cruel and unusual" punishment, during what would likely be a long prison term if he was sent back to duty.
Hinzman decided to flee to Canada earlier this year, after the US military denied his request for conscientious objector status in 2003 and he told him he was to be deployed to Iraq.
His hopes for asylum, and also those of his compatriot Hughey were dented after Goodman ruled earlier this year that the question of whether the Iraq war was legal had no bearing on his claim.
I don\'t believe Canada is actually entertaining this guys request. Secondly, conscientious objector status should be abolished since we have an all volunteer army. I could understand the need for one if there was a draft, but if you volunteer for the army you are not a conscientious objector.
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