The following is a press release from the War Resisters Support Campaign.
War Resister Family Ordered to Leave Canada
Hinzmans Were First to Seek Sanctuary
TORONTO, Aug. 13 CNW - U.S. Iraq war resister Jeremy Hinzman was told today that his family's application to stay in Canada has been rejected. Hinzman was told that he does not qualify under Canada's Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA) program following a review by a Citizenship and Immigration department officer.
Jeremy, his wife Nga Nguyen and their son Liam were the first Iraq War resisters to come to Canada to seek sanctuary. On July 21, their second child was born in Toronto. If deported, they would be the first family sent to the U.S. to face punishment.
On July 15, the Canadian government deported U.S. war resister Robin Long who is currently awaiting court martial at Fort Carson, Colorado.
Hinzman served a tour in Afghanistan in a non-combat role after applying for conscientious objector status. When his unit, the 82nd Airborne Division, was to be deployed to Iraq Hinzman and his family decided to come to Canada.
"I applied for Conscientious Objector Status in the U.S. Army because I realized that I cannot kill a fellow human being. But my application was denied. I knew that in Iraq I would be ordered to take part in combat
operations, or other actions that are against my principles," said Hinzman. "Nga and I knew Canada had welcomed many Americans like us during the Vietnam War, and we knew Canada had refused to join the invasion of Iraq."
"Sending Jeremy and his family back to the U.S., where he would face harsh punishment, would be cruel," said Lee Zaslofsky, coordinator of the War Resisters Support Campaign. "It would fly in the face of the motion adopted by the House of Commons on June 3, which called on the Harper government to stop all deportation proceedings against these conscientious objectors."
Recent Federal Court of Canada decisions in the cases of U.S. war resisters Joshua Key and Corey Glass have indicated that the refugee process which failed to grant protection to the Hinzman family may have been seriously flawed.
The War Resisters Support Campaign is calling on the federal government and the Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, to intervene to prevent the Hinzman family from being sent to the U.S. to be punished.
You may wonder what the deportation of two American GIs, who had sought refuge in Canada and who, in one case had begun to raise his children there, has to do with the wider issues of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the 2008 presidential election.
Regarding what it has to do with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, I would argue the question of Canadian sanctuary is of paramount importance, because without a refuge where antiwar GIs can live openly, they are forced to eek out a fearful existence underground in the US on the run and unable to contact their families or friends for fear of being picked up.
Without a sanctuary, there is only homelessness, fear and the dark shadows of endless night. For GIs with PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injuries, who need to seek medical attention, the only available choices are turning themselves in so they can get immediate help from the military medical system and then if they are court-martialed and given anything less than an honorable discharge, they face a lifetime of denial of any and all veteran benefits, including most importantly, access to the VA system
You may ask yourself what this has to do with the 2008 election. Canada's prime minister is a chip of the US President's old block who refuses to abide by the will of either his courts or parliament. His is a minority government that may well fall if Barack beats McCain. With Stephen Harper gone, the new Canadian Government wil most likely heed the will of the majority of Canadians and their parliamentary representatives and once again open Canada up as a sanctuary for American GIs. Please visit the war resisters support campaign website and follow the instructions printed there. Without American pressure on the Canadian Government they will continue to deport these young men and women back to face an uncertain future.