Late-inning reprieve for U.S. deserter

Court pauses deportation order so ex-paratrooper with wife, two kids in Toronto can pursue appeal

Sep 23, 2008 04:30 AM

Dale Anne Freed

Staff Reporter

War resister Jeremy Hinzman has won a temporary reprieve to stay in Canada.

Hinzman, the first U.S. Army deserter to file for refugee status in Canada, will not be returned for the time being, which means for the moment at least he avoids prosecution for desertion, his lawyer Alyssa Manning said last night.

"We're elated," said Hinzman, 29. ``But we're by no means out of the woods yet.''

The next challenge Hinzman faces is winning leave to appeal his case to the Federal Court. "But we won't find that out for a couple of months," said the South Dakota native who lives in Parkdale with his wife and two children.

Hinzman was due to be deported today. His reprieve came after his lawyer argued to the Federal Court yesterday that an immigration officer had incorrectly assessed the hardships he and his family would face if forced to return to the U.S.

Manning told the court that expert evidence suggests U.S. soldiers who have spoken out against the 2003 U.S.-led Iraq invasion have been facing more punishment than other deserters.

Crown attorney Stephen Gold called this "speculation and surmise" but Justice Richard Mosley ruled that a stay in Hinzman's deportation order was appropriate.

Hinzman, who has worked in the past as a bike courier in Toronto, says he and his wife, Nga Nguyen, and children, Liam, 6, and 2-month-old Meghan, have been living off their savings in recent months. "When our compassionate and humanitarian application was turned down, my work permit was revoked (in August) ... We have a little bit (of money) so we've been okay," he said.

At the Toronto hearing yesterday "the judge said if our family was to be separated, that would be irreparable harm," said Hinzman, as he held his baby at Friends House, a Quaker centre on Lowther Ave. in Toronto.

He said he volunteered to go to war: "I wanted to make a better life for myself and my family."

The Rapid City, S.D., native joined the 82nd Airborne in January 2001. Three years later, he went AWOL and fled to Toronto just before his unit was scheduled to leave for Iraq.

After 2 1/2 years in the military, "I knew I wasn't a killer," he said. He was assigned to a non-combat role during a tour in Afghanistan.

With files from The Canadian Press

Liberals back U.S. war resister's bid to stay in Canada

Last Updated: Thursday, September 18, 2008 | 6:44 PM ET

CBC News

Former U.S. soldier Jeremy Hinzman, shown here in 2006, has less than a week before his deportation deadline Tuesday. (Aaron Harris/Canadian Press)

With less than a week before U.S. Iraq war resister Jeremy Hinzman and his family are to be deported, the Liberals have reaffirmed their support for his fight to stay in Canada.

The 29-year-old Hinzman, his wife, Nga Nguyen, and their children — six-year-old Liam and six-week-old Meghan — have been ordered to leave Canada by Sept. 23 or face deportation.

If Hinzman is sent back to the U.S., he faces imprisonment and a criminal record.

Fresh off the campaign trail, Liberal Bob Rae spoke at a Toronto news conference Thursday with Hinzman.

Rae said the Liberals are still committed to keeping American war deserters in Canada.

He urged the government to support a motion passed earlier this year by all parties, except the Conservatives, to let conscientious objectors take up permanent residence.

"I don't think we should be having a situation where we're dead set on deportation in every situation, which seems to be the position of the government," Rae said.

Hinzman and his family came to Canada in 2004 after his attempts to gain conscientious objector status in the U.S. army were turned down.

His troop was about to be deployed to Iraq at the time, and he did not want to participate in what he called an immoral war.

Hinzman, who has applied for a stay of removal, said he's not expecting it to be granted.

"The Conservatives are ahead and they're not sympathetic to us in the least," he said, referring to opinion polls in advance of the Oct. 14. election.

With files from Canadian Press

Activism: Stop the deportation of Robin Long !!

From the War Resisters Support Campaign. Please keep checking www.resisters.ca for more information

*Join demonstrations in Toronto and Vancouver or Call Stockwell Day
Stop the Deportation of War Resister Robin Long!

**Robin Long denied appeal

*U.S. Iraq war resister Robin Long received word at 4:00 this afternoon, July 14th, in Vancouver that his appeal to have his deportation order stayed was denied. More details will follow shortly.

In the meantime, please take a moment to email or phone Stockwell Day, Minister of Public Safety, and ask him to immediately stop the deportation of U.S. Iraq war resister Robin Long. (The Canadian Border Services Agency falls under his ministry).

Also ask him why the federal government is refusing to respect the clearly expressed will of Canada's Parliament, that U.S. war resisters should be allowed to stay and that deportation proceedings against them should cease?

In a recent Angus Reid poll, almost two-thirds of Canadians said they want U.S. Iraq war resisters to be allowed to stay in Canada. Demand to know why the Harper government is unwilling to be accountable to Canadians.

Minister of Public Security Stockwell Day
Email: day.s@parl.gc.ca (Ottawa office); days1@parl.gc.ca (Penticton constituency office)
Phone: 613.995.1702 (Ottawa); 250.770.4480 (Penticton constituency office)
Fax: 613.995.1154 (Ottawa); 250.770.4484 (Penticton)

Please check the War Resisters Support Campaign website for updates on Robin's status and on emergency actions. His deportation is currently expected to take place as early as tomorrow, Tuesday July 15th.



*Toronto Demonstration*
*Tuesday July 15
12 noon
Federal Court of Canada
180 Queen Street West
*(just west of University Avenue, north side of Queen St.)
subway: Osgoode



*Vancouver/Seattle Peace Arch Demonstration*

*Tuesday, July 14, beginning at 9 am.*
*Project Safe Haven is joining with the War Resisters Support Campaign in Vancouver in calling on war resister supporters to gather at Peace Arch Park on the US-Canada border between Vancouver, British Columbia and Seattle, Washington tomorrow, Tuesday, July 14, beginning at 9 am.*

This may well be the crossing where Robin Long will be handed over to U.S. authorities. Even if not, it is a perfect place for people from both sides of the border to gather in peace and express their solidarity with all who obey international law and refuse to be party to illegal wars and war crimes.

*You do not need travel documents, or to go through the border crossing hassle.* Just go to the parking lots on either side of the border and walk into this international park. If you cannot make it to Peace Arch Park tomorrow, please find another way to express your outrage to the Canadian government and your solidarity with war resisters. One way to do so would be to send donations to the /*War Resisters Support Campaign*/ in Canada (www.resisters.ca ) or to */Project Safe Haven/* in the U.S. (www.soldiersayno.blogspot.com ).






---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Joel Harden "
To:
Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2008 01:34:13 -0400
Subject: [Stop-spp-action] URGENT: call Stockwell Day's office ASAP
Ottawa friends of the War Resisters Support Campaign,

By now you will have heard that Robin Long's appeal to the Federal Court has been denied. He still being detained in Vancouver awaiting deportation.

We are urging everyone to contact Stockwell Day, Minister of Public Safety. The Canadian Border Services Agency is under Day's purview. This is a last ditch effort to influence this process. Day's contact information (and suggested questions for him) can be found below.

Questions to ask Stockwell Day:

1) Ask him why the federal government is refusing to respect the clearly expressed will of Canada's Parliament, that U.S. war resisters should be allowed to stay and that deportation proceedings against them should cease?

2) In a recent Angus Reid poll, almost two-thirds of Canadians said they want U.S. Iraq war resisters to be allowed to stay in Canada. Demand to know why the Harper government is unwilling to be accountable to Canadians.

Contact information:

Minister of Public Security Stockwell Day
Email: day.s@parl.gc.ca (Ottawa office); days1@parl.gc.ca (Penticton constituency office)
Phone: 613.995.1702 (Ottawa); 250.770.4480 (Penticton constituency office)
Fax: 613.995.1154 (Ottawa); 250.770.4484 (Penticton)

War resistors in Parkdale.

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R.I.P. Ralph DiGia of the War Resisters League

He was a hero of mine ...

Ralph DiGia December 13, 1914 – February 1, 2008 Ralph DiGia, lifelong war resister and pacifist died February 1 in New York City. Ralph had a bad fall a couple of weeks ago, broke his hip, and has had a series of serious health problems following his admission to St. Vincent's Hospital. Ralph, 93, has been the heart and soul of War Resisters League since he came on staff shortly after the end of World War II and his release from federal prison, where he had served a term for refusing service as a conscientious objector. An associate of A. J. Muste, Bayard Rustin, Dave Dellinger, Barbara Deming, and many others, Ralph held key posts over the years with Liberation magazine as well as being on the staff of the War Resisters League. While Ralph was not a public speaker or a writer, he played a key a role within the radical pacifist movement, and was central to many of the major antiwar actions of the past six decades. Ralph was deeply loved by the movement, especially by those at his political home, the War Resisters League. He is survived by his wife, Karin DiGia, his children, and his two brothers. A funeral and informal gathering was held on Feb. 2. Arrangements for a memorial will be announced later. Click here to see the New York Times Guest Book for Ralph. A New York Times article about Ralph (March 22, 2003) A 1999 interview with Ralph “Remembering Ralph” by David McReynolds top photo: from 1992 photo to right: Ralph leafletting at the IRS on Tax Day 2007 PHOTOS: ED HEDEMANN

War Resisters League 339 Lafayette Street New York, NY 10012 (212) 228-0450 fax (212) 228-6193 wrl@warresisters.org WRL homepage Believing war to be a crime against humanity, the War Resisters League, founded in 1923, advocates Gandhian nonviolence as the method for creating a democratic society free of war, racism, sexism, and human exploitation.

WAR RESISTERS SUPPORT CAMPAIGN • www.resisters.ca • resisters@sympatico.ca

SUPREME COURT DECISION ON WAR RESISTER APPEAL

SPARKS CANADA WIDE MOBILIZATION

"POLITICAL SOLUTION FROM PARLIAMENT IS NOW TOP PRIORITY"
- WAR RESISTERS SUPPORT CAMPAIGN

(Ottawa) – Today the Supreme Court of Canada decided to not hear appeals from US Iraq War resisters seeking refuge in Canada. In response to today's decision, the War Resisters Support Campaign has announced plans to ramp up pressure for a political solution, calling for a provision from Parliament to allow resisters and their families to stay in Canada.

The War Resisters Support Campaign are hold cross-country rallies today to call on Parliament to do the right thing and allow resisters to stay in Canada.

• WHO: War Resisters Support Campaign and allies (Ottawa area)

• WHAT: Demonstration to appeal for political support

• WHEN: Thursday November 15 at 5:30 p.m.

• WHERE: Human Rights Monument, Elgin and Lisgar streets (just South of Laurier St).

"Following today's decision we call on Parliament to take a stand by enacting a provision that would allow U.S. war resisters and their families to stay in Canada," said actor and activist Shirley Douglas. "The Supreme Court has handed the issue back to Parliament. It is urgent that Parliament demonstrate leadership and act in accordance with Canadian tradition. Do not let the principles that Canadians cherish slip away. "

Today's Supreme Court decision, by a panel of three judges, prevents the full court from reviewing the decisions of the Immigration and Refugee Board regarding the refugee status of resisters Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey. The Immigration and Refugee Board had refused to grant refugee status to Hinzman and Hughey.

Resisters have already found widespread support among Canadians, including from faith groups, trade unions, peace organizations and thousands of individuals and families who have extended a welcome. In a June 2007 poll by Strategic Communications, 64.6% of respondents in Ontario think that resisters should be allowed to stay in Canada (margin of error +/- 4%, 19 times out of 20).

The War Resisters Support Campaign has been assisting US Iraq War resisters who come to Canada because of their opposition to the Iraq War since 2004.