No refugee status in Canada for U.S. soldier

An immigration panel in Toronto has denied refugee status to a former paratrooper who fled the United States to evade the war in Iraq.

The Immigration and Refugee Board members said Thursday that Jeremy Hinzman, 26, hadn't convinced them that he would be persecuted if he returned to his native land.

Hinzman faces a court martial if he goes back and could be sentenced to five years in jail as a deserter.

The board also denied asylum to Hinzman's wife and pre-school son.

"Removal to the U.S. would not subject them personally to a risk to their lives or to a risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment," the board said in a statement.

• FROM DEC. 7, 2004: U.S. army deserter seeking refugee status in Canada

"There are no substantial grounds to believe that their removal to the U.S. will subject them personally to a danger of torture."

Hinzman's lawyer, Jeffry House, said he would ask the Federal Court to review the decision.

"It's a disappointing decision," House told CBC Newsworld.

"[But] he feels that, in the long run, he will be successful with this case."

Hinzman is seen as a deserter by the American military, but his supporters say he is a war resister who should be given refugee status in Canada.

He enlisted in the U.S. army three years ago as a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division. He deserted last year, rather than go to Iraq, and moved to Canada with his family.

During a three-day hearing before the immigration board in December, 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.

The panel decided that Hinzman was not a conscientious objector.