Federal Judge refuses to deport U.S war deserter

THE CANADIAN PRESS
A high-profile American war dodger won a desperate bid to stay in Canada today as a judge refused to allow Canada to send him back to the United States to face prosecution for desertion.

Jeremy Hinzman’s reprieve from scheduled deportation tomorrow came after a Federal Court judge heard that an Immigration official had made serious errors in assessing the hardships the deserter and his family would face if forced back to the U.S.

“Of course, we’re elated — we weren’t expecting this much, so it’s a nice surprise,” Hinzman said moments after the decision was released.

“(But) we’re not out of the woods at all. We just have a stay of removal.”

Earlier in the day, Hinzman’s lawyer Alyssa Manning told Justice Richard Mosley that new evidence suggests outspoken critics of the 2003 American-led invasion of Iraq face harsher treatment than other deserters.

For example, she said, deserter Robin Long was sentenced to 15 months in prison last month after prosecutors made mention of a media interview he had given in Canada before he was deported in July.

As one of the first of scores of deserters to seek refuge in Canada rather than fight in Iraq, Hinzman’s case has been even more public.

“He is the person associated with objections to the war in Iraq,” Manning told the court.

The issue of “differential” treatment for those who have spoken out against the U.S.-led invasion appeared to trouble Mosley.

“I don’t know how it is an aggravating feature or element to be introduced in sentencing,” the judge said.

Crown lawyer Stephen Gold called it “speculation and surmise” that criticizing the U.S. military in public has led to harsher sentences for deserters.

“It is not really for us to pass judgment on a military code in a foreign country,” Gold said.

Hinzman, 29, deserted the 82nd Airborne Division in January 2004 just before he was scheduled to deploy to Iraq. He fled to Toronto with his wife and young son after his application for conscientious-objector status was rejected.

Canada rejected his refugee claim — a decision two courts upheld — on the basis that he faces prosecution, not persecution, in the U.S.

Hinzman argued for the deportation stay while the courts decide if they will review Ottawa’s rejection of his bid to remain in Canada on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.

A ruling on the humanitarian application likely won’t take more than a few months, Mosley wrote in rejecting Gold’s contention the immigration and justice systems would be hurt by giving Hinzman the reprieve.

“Based on the evidence and submissions before me, I am satisfied that the applicants would suffer irreparable harm if a stay were not granted pending determination of their leave application,” Mosley said in his three-page endorsement.

Gold told the court that Hinzman knew when he enlisted that he could face up to five years for desertion — a felony offence — comparing him to someone who commits a crime despite knowing the possible punishment.

“The applicant is going back to face the consequences of his own actions,” Gold told the court.

“That cannot be laid at the feet of the Canadian government in deporting him.”

But Manning said Hinzman and his family would face undue hardship if deported.

She noted he might not receive proper psychiatric treatment for his schizo-affective disorder if jailed in the U.S.

She also harshly criticized Ottawa’s failure to properly consider the damage that being separated from Hinzman would cause his wife, 6-year-old son and newborn daughter.

In June, a non-binding motion passed in the House of Commons called for the deserters to be allowed to stay in Canada permanently as conscientious objectors.

Following the court decision, the War Resisters Campaign called again on the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper to act on the Commons’ motion and to “cease deporting Iraq war resisters.”

The NDP’s Olivia Chow, who introduced the motion, said today: ``Clearly the courts are standing up when Stephen Harper won’t and respecting the will of Parliament.”

War resister pleads guilty

American deported from Canada in July will admit to deserting U.S. Army in return for lesser sentence

Nick Kyonka

Staff Reporter

The first American war resister deported from Canada will plead guilty to charges of desertion at a court martial today in Colorado, and will likely be sentenced this afternoon, his lawyer said yesterday.

Robin Long, 25, had lived in Canada since he fled from the U.S. Army in 2005 to avoid a scheduled deployment to Iraq.

He was deported on July 15, following several failed attempts to earn refugee status or permanent residency in this country, and has since languished in three American military and civilian prisons.

In his trial today at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, Colo., Long will plead guilty to charges of deserting the U.S. Army with the intent to stay away permanently. The plea is part of a pre-trial agreement with military prosecutors last week.

"In exchange for him pleading guilty, they've agreed to (lower) the three-year maximum sentence that usually comes with those charges," Long's Oklahoma-based lawyer, James M. Branum, said in an interview. He wouldn't specify the length of the new maximum.

The army also gave up its right to prosecute Long on other potential charges related to the outspoken stance he took against the Iraq war while living in Canada, Branum said. But, he said, prosecutors would likely use evidence from interviews Long did with Canadian media to try to convince the court his actions harmed army morale.

"I think they want to prosecute him for free-speech issues without actually charging him for them."

Long joined the army in 2003 but became disillusioned with the Iraq war after hearing stories from soldiers who had served there, he said in a January interview with the U.S. anti-war group, Courage to Resist.

While living in Marathon, Ont., Long became engaged to a Canadian woman, who had his child last year. When he moved to B.C. a short time later, border officials issued a warrant for his arrest after he missed an immigration appointment in Ontario. He was arrested earlier this summer, then deported.

In addition to prison time, Long could receive a dishonourable discharge, a felony offence that can strip the U.S. citizen of his rights to vote and carry a weapon, Branum said, adding Long would also likely lose any right to receive pay or pension from the army – which would severely limit his ability to support his child while in prison.

Fellow resister James Burmeister, who was convicted of deserting the U.S. Army at a military trial last month, received a six-month sentence and a bad-conduct discharge.