Young Friends:
FGConnections Winter 2006

Wearing their sword as long as they could

By Jane Orion Smith

I returned from Christmas vacation in January 2004 to find that Canada had its first refugee from the US military who was seeking sanctuary from being deployed to Iraq: Jeremy Hinzman, soldier in the elite 82nd Airborne unit.

An attender at Fayetteville Meeting (NC), Jeremy —like many soldiers—developed conscientious objection to war and militarism through his experience in the military. When his CO case was refused, following a process that contravened military policy (see www.jeremyhinzman.net), he asked to be assigned to non-combatant service so as to honour his contract.

When this was refused, Jeremy felt his options were running out. If he deserted, he would be breaking the law; if he refused an order to go to Iraq as a combatant, he would be jailed; if he went to Canada, he might never be able to return to the US or be deported back to face a longer jail term.

Jeremy and his wife Nga Nguyen (with their young son, Liam) chose Canada. On arrival, they immediately received support from Friends in Hamilton and in Toronto, where they now reside.

Canadian Friends Service Committee wrote a briefing paper on the issue as many people both in Canada and the US were unaware of how much Canadian immigration policy had changed since the Viet Nam era. CFSC also worked closely with the War Resisters Support Campaign (a coalition of unions, faiths, leftists, and former Viet Nam resisters) to educate our community and the general public and develop a broad base of support to allow the soldiers to stay in Canada.

Given the range of sensitivities of this issue, we at CFSC knew that we needed to engage in discernment about our role and our positions. At first, we felt it was a bad option to come to Canada—there were no guarantees that the soldiers could stay; indeed they could end up in a worse position than if they chose from among the range of discharge options in the US or served a short prison sentence (under a year).

Over time, we came to appreciate that the decision to come here could itself be an act of conscience for those who wanted to be honest about their reasons for refusing to serve: the war, both in its origin and in its prosecution, is wrong, legally and morally, and its undertaking is more about oil and geo-political positioning than liberation and freedom, let alone countering an immediate threat to the US (one of the two legal grounds for war, the other being authorization by the UN Security Council).

Both CFSC and the WRSC believe that soldiers must look at all their options and make the best decision for themselves and their families. We do not encourage anyone to desert, nor to come North. If they do come, we will help, just as we assisted COs in the past.

Since that January day in 2004, two Quaker families housed two different “war resisters” for the better part of a year; others offered housing for a few nights to a few weeks. Friends have been writing to government officials on their behalf, encouraging them to let CO’s stay, and CFSC has done media work and public engagement to try to build more understanding of the issue of conscientious objection and the cases of these young men. Jeremy is now among 15 US soldiers who have chosen to come to Canada.

Friends in Canadian Yearly Meeting fully support the soldiers in following their conscience both in seeking to have their rights as COs respected in their country of origin and, if they feel they must flee, through provisions in international law in the country they arrive in. The Quaker UN Office in Geneva, which has expertise on conscientious objector international law, has helped in the legal cases of the soldiers in Canada.

But what of our Friends in the US? What can you do, given that these young people are refugees from your land? First, learn more about the issue by reading CFSC’s briefing paper (*cfsc.quaker.ca*) or ordering the new video on the war resisters, “Let Them Stay” from the War Resisters Support Campaign; second, write a letter of support to our Prime Minister (contact CFSC for details); and third, consider offering financial support to the Support Campaign (*www.resisters.ca*) which is carrying the main load of caring for the soldiers (and their families), funding their legal cases, and building political and public support for them.

Jane Orion Smith is the General Secretary of Canadian Friends Service Committee. She can be reached at*cfsc@cfsc.quaker.ca”:mailto:cfsc@cfsc.quaker.ca

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