US deserter seeks Canada
asylum
BBC (UK)
By Lee Carter
BBC News, Toronto
Last Updated: Monday, 6 December, 2004, 23:17 GMT
A US army deserter has begun making his case for political
refugee status so he can stay in Canada.
Jeremy Hinzman, 25, is the first of three US deserters to
appear before a refugee and immigration board in the city of
Toronto, seeking asylum.
The paratrooper served in Afghanistan but left the US for
Canada after his unit was ordered into Iraq last year.
Mr Hinzman, who took his wife and son with him to Toronto,
says he believes the US-led war in Iraq is illegal.
Prisoner abuse
He said: "If you're given an illegal or immoral order, it's
your duty and obligation to refuse it. I felt the order to Iraq
went under that."
Mr Hinzman's lawyer is presenting what he says is evidence of
US war crimes in Iraq at the hearing.
And a lobby group campaigning on Mr Hinzman's behalf argues
that he was merely obeying international law by refusing to fight
in Iraq because the United Nations never authorised the use of
force there.
But immigration experts point out that Mr Hinzman voluntarily
signed up to join the US army in January 2001, knowing that it
might involve service overseas.
No American citizen has ever made a successful refugee claim
in Canada, although it is thought the prisoner abuse scandals in
Iraq may help his case.
If Mr Hinzman loses his bid to win asylum in Canada, he faces
deportation to the US and up to five years in prison for
desertion.
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