[1] Born in Rapid City, South Dakota, Hinzman 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.
Hinzman said he sought refugee status because he opposed the war in Iraq on moral grounds and argued the U.S. invasion violated international human rights standards.
"[1] Jeremy Hinzman voluntarily joined the U.S. Army early in 2001, completing basic combat training and airborne school in Fort Benning, Georgia.
Amnesty International notes that Hinzman "took reasonable steps to register his conscientious objection through seeking non-combatant status in [August] 2002, an application which was rejected [April 2003].
If the Army pursues a general court-martial, he could be sentenced to the punishment of up to five years in prison and a dishonorable discharge for the crime of "desertion with intent to avoid hazardous duty or to shirk important service."
[1][8] His lawyer, Jeffry House, pointed out[9] a precedent set by federal court Judge Arthur Stone in 1995 who approved refugee status for a deserter from Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
"[9] The case of Iraq War resisters became more than a legal issue when Canadian government lawyers entered the situation and presented arguments to the IRB adjudicator just before this precedent-setting hearing.
[14] Reporting on Goodman's decision, the BBC stated that the ruling "did not come as a surprise...[Canadian] officials are aware that accusing Washington of persecuting its citizens would cause an international diplomatic incident.
"[12] Justice Anne L. Mactavish presided over the Federal Court case of Hinzman v. Canada, 2006 FC 420,[15] and released her ruling on 31 March 2006, upholding the decision of the Immigration and Refugee Board.
[29] On July 22 that year, Officer S. Parr issued a negative decision on the Hinzman application to stay in Canada on "humanitarian and compassionate grounds."
On July 25, she also issued a distinctly separate negative decision on the Hinzman application to stay in Canada as refugees (in their "Pre-Removal Risk Assessment").
[30] That following August 13, the Canada Border Services Agency ordered Hinzman, along with his wife, son, and baby daughter, to leave the country by 23 September 2008.
)[30][34] At the hearing on that day, Hinzman's lawyer Alyssa Manning told Justice Richard Mosley that new evidence demonstrated that outspoken critics of the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 faced harsher treatment than other deserters.
[35] The issue of "differential" treatment for those who had spoken out against the U.S.-led invasion appeared to trouble Justice Mosley, who said: "I don't know how it is an aggravating feature or element to be introduced in sentencing."
"[35] In order to win the stay of deportation, Manning had to show that her client would suffer "irreparable harm," if returned to the United States as noted in Justice Mosley's quote above.
Hinzman's application for conscientious objector status was denied due to the fact that he was known to have made statements to the effect that he would consider participating in certain types of defensive actions.
"[48][49][50][51] In 1998, the UNCHR reiterated previous statements and added "states should...refrain from subjecting conscientious objectors...to repeated punishment for failure to perform military service.
"[52] It also encouraged states "to consider granting asylum to those conscientious objectors compelled to leave their country of origin because they fear persecution owing to their refusal to perform military service.
"[51][53] A live theater production entitled, The Hearing of Jeremy Hinzman was staged in August 2012, in Toronto, as part of the annual Summerworks Theatre Festival.
[54] According to Toronto's Now Magazine, the drama was based "on the real-life case of an Iraq War deserter who was put on trial in 2004 to determine his status as a refugee in Canada, this example of verbatim theatre debates the legality of the 2003 U.S. invasion, and the rights of individual soldiers to think for themselves.
"[55] Peace Has No Borders is a 2016 feature-length documentary about Iraq and Afghan War resisters from the U.S. seeking refuge in Canada, directed by Deb Ellis and Denis Mueller.
[56] After carefully considering written submissions, I ruled on November 12, 2004, for the reasons set out in my Interlocutory Reasons of that date, that Mr. Hinzman's allegation that US military action in Iraq is illegal because it is not authorized by the United Nations (UN) Charter, or UN Resolution is not relevant to the question of whether it is "the type of military action" which "is condemned by the international community, as contrary to basic rules of human conduct," within the meaning of paragraph 171 of the Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status4 (the Handbook) of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Where, however, the type of military action, with which an individual does not wish to be associated, is condemned by the international community as contrary to basic rules of human conduct, punishment for desertion or draft-evasion could, in the light of all other requirements of the definition, in itself be regarded as persecution."