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 | | From: | Bo | | Subject: | U.S. Army Deserter Seeks Canadian Asylum | | Date: | Thu, 09 Dec 2004 17:10:35 GMT |
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 | By BETH DUFF-BROWN, Associated Press Writer
TORONTO - A former U.S. Marine in Iraq (news - web sites), testifying
Wednesday at a hearing for an American military deserter seeking asylum in
Canada, said several men in his unit were "psychopaths" who enjoyed killing
unarmed Iraqi civilians who posed no threat.
Jimmy Massey, a staff sergeant who was in the Marines for 12 years and
served three months in Iraq before being honorably discharged with
post-traumatic stress syndrome, made the allegations before Canada's
Immigration and Refugee Board on the final day of an asylum hearing for Army
Pfc. Jeremy Hinzman, 26.
Hinzman fled Fort Bragg, N.C., to Canada weeks before his 82nd Airborne
Division was due to be deployed to Iraq. He had served three years in the
Army but applied for conscientious objector status before his unit was sent
to Afghanistan in 2002.
He is asking for refugee status for himself, his wife and 2-year-old son,
claiming he would face persecution if forced to return to the United States.
Hinzman's lawyer, Jeffry House, said he would be the first American soldier
granted political asylum in Canada if his petition succeeds.
Massey, who did not know Hinzman before the hearing, said Hinzman likely
would have been forced to commit atrocities that violated the Geneva
Conventions if he went to Iraq.
Massey, 33, of Waynesville, N.C., said his 7th Marines weapons company
killed more than 30 civilians during a 48-hour period in April while
stationed at a checkpoint in the southern Baghdad district of Rashid. The
victims included unarmed demonstrators and a man who drove up in a car and
raised his hands above his head in the universal symbol of surrender.
"I know in my heart that these vehicles that came up, that they were
civilians," he said. "But I had to act on my orders. It's a struggle within
my heart."
The orders, he said, were to shoot at anyone who drove into what is known as
the "red zone" surrounding the checkpoint because they could be suicide
bombers.
Massey told the tribunal he got caught up in the frenzy and shot at
civilians as well.
"I take full responsibility for my actions," he said. "We deliberately
gunned down people who were civilians. I became so concerned because I felt
that Marines were honestly enjoying it. I saw plenty of Marines become
psychopaths. They enjoyed the killing."
The Marine Corps denied Massey's allegations.
"We're not saying he's lying, but his perception of what the situation was
in relation to the rules of engagement, and what was justified, is different
than ours," said Maj. Douglas Powell, a spokesman for the Marine Corps at
the Pentagon (news - web sites). "It was investigated and any acts of
wrongdoing, in regards to violations of the laws of war, the laws of armed
conflict, were unsubstantiated."
Hinzman's case comes just as Ottawa attempts to improve relations with
Washington, which soured dramatically after Canada refused to send troops to
Iraq.
Hinzman argued that the war in Iraq was illegal and fighting in it would
make him a war criminal. He also said he would be persecuted if forced to
return to the United States, noting that he now receives threatening e-mail.
A typical term in a U.S. military prison for Army desertion is a year.
"After I would be released from jail, the chances of my getting a job would
be slim and there would be social persecution," he told reporters after his
hearing.
Hinzman is one of three American military deserters seeking refugee status
in Canada. Hearings for Brandon Hughey of the Army's 1st Cavalry and David
Sanders of the Navy will be heard by the refugee board in January.
House, an American lawyer who first came to Canada as a draft dodger during
the Vietnam War, is representing the three Americans. He said 30,000-50,000
Americans who fled to Canada during Vietnam were allowed to settle there.
The tribunal is expected to make its decision early next year.
--
Look at the world today. Is there anything more pitiful? What madness there
is. What blindness. What unintelligent leadership. A scurrying mass of
bewildered humanity, crashing headlong against each other, compelled by an
orgy of greed and brutality. The time must come my friend, when this orgy
will spend itself. When brutality and the lust for power, must perish by its
own sword. -Lost Horizon, 1936
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