American activists take up case of Iraq war resister Robin Long

Two American antiwar groups have taken up the case of Robin Long, a conscientious objector to the war in Iraq who deserted from the U.S. army and fled to British Columbia in 2005.

On Tuesday (January 13), two dozen members of Military Families Speak and Veterans for Peace gathered outside Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and protested Long’s imprisonment, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The Straight previously reported that Long was deported from Nelson, B.C., on July 15, 2008, and subsequently sentenced to 15 months in prison on August 23.

The LA Times story notes that the Canadian House of Commons passed a nonbinding motion calling on the government of Canada to allow conscientious objectors to remain in Canada. It goes on to state that Canada’s Conservative government has ignored that motion.

The activists fighting for Long in the U.S. argue that the former army private’s imprisonment is cruel and unusual punishment, the LA Times reports, because it is preventing Long from returning to his sick girlfriend and their two-year-old son, who remain in B.C.

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