[News] Fleeing US soldiers seek asylum in Canada

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Fleeing US soldiers seek asylum in Canada

Thursday 08 July 2004 10:31 AM GMT

Two US soldiers pleading for asylum in Canada after walking out on their 
units over fierce objections to the Iraq war have appeared in a Toronto 
courtroom.

Jeremy Hinzman, 25, attended a technical pre-hearing at Canada's 
Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) in Toronto on Wednesday, supported by 
another fugitive American soldier Brandon Hughey.

The IRB set a refugee status hearing for 20, 21 and 22 October for Hinzman, 
said board spokesman Charles Hawkins.

No court date has yet been set for Hughey, whose case was not heard on 
Wednesday. No testimony was taken at the hearing, a legal formality to map 
out the parameters of the case.

The controversy surrounding the two men has ignited controversy in the 
United States, and sympathy in Canada, especially among those who opposed 
the Iraq war.

Vietnam reflected

It has also revived memories of the "underground railroad" of activists 
which transported hundreds of US objectors to the country during the 
Vietnam war.

Hinzman, who like Hughey has a website to publicise his case, recently 
spoke at an anti-war rally at the US consulate in Toronto.

He served in Afghanistan with the 82nd Airborne but left the United States 
for Canada with his wife and son after learning the US army planned to send 
him to Iraq.

Military brass denied his request for conscientious objector status, 
prompting his asylum claim in Canada in January.

Prosecution and persecution

Both men argue they face prosecution tantamount to persecution in the US 
because of their strong political beliefs and should therefore be granted 
haven in Canada.

Hughey, 19, of the US Army 1st Cavalry Division, fled to Canada one day 
before his unit was deployed to Iraq. He said if he is returned home he 
will face jail and a dishonourable discharge from the armed forces.

He said on Wednesday that he was optimistic that Canada would permit him to 
stay.

"The essential key to the case is to prove that the war in Iraq is illegal 
under international law and represents a violation of human rights," he said.

War legality questioned

Hughey argued that as a US soldier, he was not bound to serve in Iraq as 
the war was "illegal" as it involved the invasion of a sovereign nation 
without the full backing of the United Nations.

He is currently living in St Catharines, southwest of Toronto, not far from 
the Niagara Falls region and the US border, and is hoping soon to get the 
legal go-ahead to work for a living.

A lawyer for the two men, Jeffry House said that though the IRB operates at 
arm's length from the Canadian government, the case did have significant 
political overtones.

"I think there is an irreducible political component to the case," he said.

Canada refused US entreaties to send troops to join US President George 
Bush's "coalition of the willing" in Iraq - a move that soured relations 
with its powerful southern neighbour.

AFP


You can find this article at:
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/82045E8A-05AD-42FF-929A-A58740173248.htm 



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