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Jeremy Hinzman was a U.S. soldier in the elite infantry division, the 82nd Airborne. He served in Afghanistan in a non-combat position after having applied for conscientious objector status. After being refused CO status and returning to America, he learned that they would be deployed to Iraq.
Hinzman did not believe the stated reasons for the Iraq war. In January 2004 he drove to Canada to seek asylum. He is currently living in Toronto with his wife Nga Nguyen and son Liam. His refugee claim was turned down in March 2005 by the Immigration and Refugee Board. This decision was upheld by the Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal, and on November 15, 2007 the Supreme Court refused to hear his appeal.
On July 21 2008 their daughter Meghan was born in Toronto.
Jeremy and his family have been ordered to leave Canada by September 23, 2008, or they will be deported to the United States where Jeremy will be turned over to the US military to face punishment for desertion. Jeremy and Nga are seeking judicial review of their case.
- This profile, of Jeremy Hinzman, was posted to Wikipedia
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Jeremy Dean Hinzman (born in 1979 in Rapid City, South Dakota) is the first American Iraq war resister/deserter to seek refugee status in Canada.
He enlisted in the U.S. army as a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division and deserted in 2004 to avoid participating in the Iraq War. "He fled to Canada with his wife and preschool-age son. Now living in Toronto and working as a bike courier, Hinzman faces a court martial and a possible five-year prison sentence if he returns to the U.S.....Hinzman said he sought refugee status because he opposed the war in Iraq on moral grounds and thought the U.S. invasion violated international human rights standards."
He "was one of the first to have his application [for refugee status] rejected – a decision he unsuccessfully appealed to the Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal. His request to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court was rejected...November [2007]. At that time, he filed for a pre-removal risk assessment with the citizenship and immigration department, which determines if a denied refugee applicant would be subject to torture, death or [a risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment] if returned to their country of origin.
He also filed for permanent residency on compassionate and humanitarian grounds."
