The Fight for Iraq War Resisters to Remain in Canada is a Two-Front War

By: Contributor · January 16, 2009 · Filed Under Civil Rights, Immigration Law, Politics · 1 Comment

The following article was sent to us by the author, Krystalline Kraus, for republication. Originally posted here.

The political front

On June 3, 2008, Canadian Parliament voted in favour of allowing Iraq war resisters to seek permanent residence status in Canada.

This non-binding motion called for the creation of a special government program to, “allow conscientious objectors and their families … who have refused or left military service related to a war not sanctioned by the United Nations to apply for permanent resident status.”

One hundred and thirty-seven MPs from the Liberal party, the NDP and the Bloc Québécois voted in favour of the motion, while 110 Conservative MPs voted against.

While the motion was passed by a majority in Parliament, the minority Conservative government under Stephen Harper has yet to enact it; this despite constant lobbying
from the War Resister Support Campaign (WRSC), immigration rights groups and anti-war activists.

The judicial front

Even though Canadian Parliament had passed the June 3, 2008, it is non-binding. Therefore the Canadian immigration system, through the Immigrant and Refugee Board
(IRB), has been issuing deportation orders to those resisters who have applied for refugee status.

These deportation orders are being contested in the Canadian judicial system as the Federal Court considers a series of IRB decisions and defendant appeals.

Canada’s immigration process includes both an Humanitarian and Compassionate (H + C) application and a Pre-Risk Removal Assessment (PRRA), to determine the impact of a deportation on the individual or if they would face undue hardship if returned to their home country.

Legal challenges

There are a number of different resisters challenging their negative H + C and PRRA decisions, requesting an appeal or a new refugee application from the IRB.

One such case includes a Federal court judge’s acceptance to review the deportation order of resister Jeremy Hinzman. This allows Hinzman and his wife and children to remain in Canada until the appeal of their negative PRRA is heard.

Despite an IRB ruling stating that Hinzman would face no undue hardship if returned to the United States to face a military trial for desertion, the Justice Mosley of the Federal Court ruled that, “[b]ased 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.”

Lawyers for the resisters and the WRSC both assert that any soldier deported back to the US to stand trial would face undue hardship. They cite an emerging trend of prosecution in U.S. court marshal proceedings that considers speaking out publicly against the U.S. government and the Iraq war grounds for increased punishment.

This risk of harsher punishment – including prosecution with charges equal to a civilian felony conviction, prison sentences, denial of veteran benefits for themselves and their family and the military humiliation of receiving a dishonourable discharge – is at the heart of Hinzman’s immigration case currently before the courts.

War refugees

In recent days, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Jason Kenney (replacing Diane Finley) has been catching heat for public statements made to the Toronto Sun concerning US war resisters, spoken from his position as the minister directly in charge of immigration.

Commenting after resister Kimberly Rivera received a negative IRB decision on January 7, 2009, he referred to Iraq war resisters as, “bogus refugee claimants” in a later interview on Parliament Hill.

He went on to state, “I don’t appreciate people adding to the backlog and clogging up the system whose claims are being rejected consistently 100 per cent of the time.”

Minister Kenney also responded to an article written by John Hogan in the Toronto Sun where Hogan questioned the independence of the IRB in light of the Conservative governments consistent negative stance towards US war resisters. In a response to this article, he wrote that, “war resistance is futile” and re-affirmed the IRB’S independence.

Critics of the minority Conservative government claim that Minister Kenney’s comments prejudice any immigration hearings for war resisters.

Lee Zaslofsky, an organizer with the War Resister Support Campaign (WRCS), criticized Minister Kenney’s comments as political interference on the supposedly independent IRB tribunal.

“Everyone, including war resisters, has the right to expect their applications will be dealt with in a fair and impartial manner,” he wrote in a statement.

“Minister Kenney’s comments show the Harper government has a blanket policy of opposition against war resisters, which makes it nearly impossible for them to be treated on a ‘case-by-case basis’ as our government has been leading Canadians to believe.”

Criticism of Minister Kenney’s remarks were also laid down through an open letter by Elizabeth McWeeney, President of the Canadian Council of Refugees.

In the letter writ on January 8, 2009, she stated her concern surrounding Minister Kenney’s comments which she called, “highly inappropriate” since they “give the strong appearance of political interference.”

She was referring to the fact that the IRB re-appointments are made by Cabinet and IRB members might fear for their tenure if they do not toe a certain political line.

She wrote, “highly publicized cases such as the war resisters are always challenging for the IRB which must live up to its obligations to make fair, impartial and politically unmotivated determinations, based on jurisprudence and the evidence before it.”

Any political assertions otherwise, especially spoken from the minister responsible for immigration affairs, threatens the independence of the IRB and the right of war resisters to a fair immigration assessment.

McWeeny also refuted the Minister’s assumptions around the burden that war resisters supposedly place on the Canadian immigration system.

She was “shocked” that Minister Kenney would attribute the systematic delays in the refugee claim process to the war resisters, slamming the Minister for the lack of credibility to his argument since the number of war resister claims was “miniscule”.

Instead, she cited that the backlog was in fact a consequence of the Conservative government to appoint IRB members.

This slams shut the door on any Conservative government intentions to utilize a divide and conquer strategy between refugees.

The open letter ends with the Canadian Council of Refugees affirming its support for Iraq war resisters, “these are individuals who deserve our admiration for following their consciences and refusing to participate in wrongdoing, at significant cost to themselves.”

Critical juncture

This is a critical juncture for Iraq war resisters in Canada – with a series of deportation orders scheduled to start at the end of the month.

We as a society must weight their struggle using both our hands. Carefully determine the possible outcomes to their fight to remain in Canada. Carefully determine the value of life and the cost of protecting it.

Jail time in a U.S. prison for refusing to kill or a new home in Canada for refusing to kill.

The cost of laying down one’s guns and refusing to fight is soon to be determined legally in our courts and morally in the hearts of Canadians across the country.

The price: freedom or deportation.

Post tags: conscientious objector, deportation, iraq, iraq war, jeremy hinzman, krystalline kraus, refugee, war resister

Cedric Transcribes our Interview with Rich Droste

By: Omar Ha-Redeye · August 14, 2008 · Filed Under Administrative · Add Comment

Cedric’s Big Mix has transcribed part of our last podcast, where we interviewed war resister Rich Droste.
Thanks for the text, I’m sure our readers will enjoy it.

Post tags: London War Resisters Support Group, rich droste, war resister

Law is Cool – Podcast #11

By: Law is Cool · August 8, 2008 · Filed Under Podcasts · 7 Comments

Show Notes
Total Running Time 35:44

1:06 Jacob Kaufman and Omar Ha-Redeye introduce themselves.

1:17 Jacob notices different opening music for this episode of Law is Cool, and Omar explains it’s a sound clip from a performance by Rich Droste of the London War Resisters Support Group.

1:47 Jacob, who is seeing the film for the second time, discusses The Dark Knight.

2:14 Omar raises some of the criticisms of the film, such as its promotion of vigilantism.

2:17 Jacob raises an article by Spencer Ackerman that says that Batman is how Dick Cheney sees himself, through extraordinary rendition, torture and going beyond the law to achieve his goals.

2:47 Jacob mentions how the Cogitamus blog argues that Batman is actually a critique of Batman’s techniques, and that the Joker is actually blowback from Batman working outside the law. But Matthew Yglesias says it’s just a movie where a man dresses up as a bat.

3:32 Omar asks why Canadian law students should care about American politics, and shares his meeting with the Democrats Abroad – Canada.

4:27 Jacob mentions Canada and the world’s perspective on Sen. Obama and some of the critiques raised against him on our site, but also his position on the War in Iraq.

5:45 Omar adds that many Americans also rejected the War in Iraq, including some that came to Canada. He introduces Rich Droste, a war resister that joined the army at the age of 17 and now lives in London, Ont.

6:57 Rich explains why he joined the Army as a combat engineer, and the circumstances around his life as to why joined.

8:03 Rich shares how he learned more about the world as he was in the Army for a longer period of time, but took issue with prostitution and human trafficking rings he personally observed.

8:57 Rich tells us how he filed to become a conscientious objector, what it means to be a conscientious objector, and how these papers were lost.

9:56 Rich finds out he’s being sent to Iraq, and his choices were to either go in jail or re-enlist in a different job, and then discovers he’s going to be training the elite Rangers. He’s placed on medications, and sent to a chaplain when he refuses.

12:29 Rich shares on why he chose to come to Canada, where there are about 200-500 other resisters, and was attracted by the advocacy and education initiatives here.

13:20 Rich shares some of the benefits of Legal Aid, and how he sought assistance from Canadian lawyers.

15:11 His legal status here in Canada is a pending refugee claimant, and has a hearing on Sept. 17, 2008 to find out if there is a deportation order against him.

15:27 Omar speaks to David Heap of the London War Resisters Support Group, who describes the three broad areas of work they engage in and why he got involved in these issues.

16:37 David draws parallels between the current conflict in Iraq and previous military engagements by America, as well as some of his grievances around the war.

17:47 The legal support offered to war resisters is described. A broader political statement is also sought. Some resisters who returned believed they would be getting unconditional discharges and were instead imprisoned.

19:15 David mentions a day of action that is planned for September 2008

19:31 Omar mentions Bob Rae’s editorial in the Toronto Star on war resisters, which provides some history and context to the subject.

20:00 Jacob and Omar debate the role of the military.

21:02 Omar introduces a book by Ari Kaplan, The Opportunity Maker, Strategies for Inspiring Your Legal Career Through Creative Networking and Business Development, which has an entire chapter dedicated to blogging in law school.

22:04 Ari relates some of the reasons why he wrote the book – to share strategies on things law students need to do and how to do it.

25:14 The importance of personal contact is emphasized.

25:46 Students should start thinking of rainmaking now. They can do creative things now because they are not fully affiliated with a firm as a lawyer and don’t require official sign-off. This is their chance to experiment.

28:13 The difference between law students and business students is described.

29:32 Ari mentions interviews he conducted with other students that can be found on the book’s site.

30:05 Ari describes the tremendous risk aversion built into the law, which often translates into a distaste for networking, and how many law students misunderstand this as using people. Instead, they should look to build meaningful relationships and to help each other out by connecting in a positive and genuine way.

32:10 The art of storytelling is is important because clients hire lawyers that tell the same kind of stories of success and enthusiasm that they tell.

33:21 Jacob likes that Ari mentioned one of his favorite bloggers, Jeremy Blachman of the Anonymous Lawyer, who eventually turned his site into a book.

34:12 Omar signs off with a song from Josh Randall, a Vietnam War Resister that moved to Canada and stayed here, and now helps resisters from the current war.