Jeremy Hinzman, the U.S. soldier who fled to Canada to avoid the war in Iraq, is spending the holiday weekend planning his next move, now that he's been denied refugee status.

The Immigration and Refugee Board announced its ruling on Thursday.

It said Hinzman had not made a convincing argument he faces persecution or cruel and unusual punishment in the United States.

After the decision came down, Hinzman joined a noisy protest across the street from the U.S. consulate in downtown Toronto.

When asked what he would do next, Hinzman said: "I'm going to go run with family. I'm going to go running on Saturday and start an appeal process on Monday."

Hinzman decided to flee his base in Fort Bragg, N.C. in Jan. 2004 and headed for Canada with his wife and son.

He crossed the border and is now working as a bicycle courier in Toronto.

He said he fled military service because he feels the Iraq war illegal.
He had been seeking political refugee status in Canada, arguing that he would be jailed if he returned to the U.S. and his life would be in danger.

Hinzman also believed he would be treated more harshly in prison because of his views on the Iraq war.

His wife, Nga Nguyen, and young son, Liam, had also been seeking asylum. But the board did not accept their arguments.

"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 decided.

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

The board added that Hinzman's reasons for refusing to fight in Iraq were "inherently contradictory" because he was willing to serve but only in a non-combat role.

"Surely an intelligent young man like Mr. Hinzman, who believed the war in Iraq to be illegal, unjust and waged for economic reasons, would be unwilling to participate in any capacity, whether combatant or non-combatant," the board said in its decision.

"The Federal Court ... clearly sets out that one cannot be a selective conscientious objector."

His lawyer, Jeffry House, said he would ask the Federal Court to review the decision.

Hinzman joined the army in 2001 and trained as a paratrooper. He said he signed up at his father's urging because it allowed him to receive a university education.

But he says his thinking changed after going through combat training, in which he claims he was ordered to chant, "Trained to kill and kill we will." He says that's when realized he had problems with "taking human life."

Deserters from countries with compulsory military service have been granted refugee status in Canada.

But since Hinzman volunteered for military service, this case was considered different.