LOS ANGELES—A former East African soldier ordered deported by a judge who called him a “common deserter” should be granted U.S. asylum because he was tortured for protesting an Eritrean war, a federal appeals court ruled.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found Thursday that a Los Angeles immigration judge was wrong in 2001 when he denied a petition by Ukashu Nuru to remain in America.

“This is a great relief for me and my family,” Nuru said. He is married to a permanent U.S. resident and his 4-year-old son is a U.S. citizen.

Nuru, 32, was a former Eritrean soldier who testified that he was beaten by fellow soldiers and left out in the desert sun with little food or water for 25 days after protesting his country’s war with Sudan. Nuru said he was left permanently injured.

The government sought to deport him because of his allegedly fraudulent immigration papers.

He sought permission to remain in the United States under the United Nations Convention Against Torture.

Los Angeles Immigration Judge John Walsh said he was not convinced that Nuru would be tortured if he returned home. He called him a deserter and “coward” who fled his country for personal rather than political reasons.

The Board of Immigration Appeals affirmed the judge’s opinion in 2003. But a three-member panel of the federal appeals court strongly disagreed.

“We are compelled to conclude that Nuru was tortured by the government of Eritrea and would likely face similar treatment if he returned to that country,” Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote on behalf of the panel.

The court ordered the Bureau of Immigration Appeals to halt Nuru’s deportation and ruled that he was also eligible for asylum, which is granted at the discretion of the U.S. attorney general.