Deserter poses a problem for Ottawa

[Bragi]

<<...Hinzman argues he is being asked to participate in an illegal war. At one level, this is a practical necessity; Canada does not usually grant refugee status to people simply because they have broken the law in their home countries. Hence, if Hinzman wants to stay, he has to prove that the law he broke is fundamentally illegal.

Yet, Hinzman also puts the Canadian government in a difficult position. His claim is not just self-serving. It is also correct according to international law experts and, in fact, was implicitly used by Ottawa as its justification for not joining Bush's war...

The reason, as University of Toronto law professor Jutta Brunée explains, is that since 1945 international law has been quite clear: With two key exceptions, war is illegal. Those exceptions are wars conducted in self defence and wars authorized by the Security Council.

In an affidavit filed on behalf of Hinzman, Brunée points out that the war on Iraq fits neither category...>>

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1101726846131&call_pageid=968256290204&col=968350116795

[naturalselection]

1. So can we take this as good news or bad news?

In other words, if a draft is initiated, could we flee the states, ask for refugee status based on the fact of international law stating that a war is illegal unless in self defense or Security Council passage?

Thoughts?

[Bragi]

2. Good or bad?

I think it may depend somewhat on how this case is decided in the Canadian courts. If the deserter is successful in his refugee claim, then presumably Canada may once again become a legal refuge for Americans who refuse to fight in an illegal war.

However, I suspect that the legal issues aren't clear cut. Among other things, there's a big difference between someone avoiding a compulsory draft, and the desertion by a member of a volunteer army.

It will certainly be *interesting* if the main Canada-US border issue of the future isn't so much be about people trying to illegally enter the US from Canada, but about young Americans trying to get out of the US.

How sad is that?