F ILED U.S. COURT O F APP EALS EL EV EN TH C IRC UIT A pril 2 6, 2007 T HOMA S K. KA HN CLERK [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UN ITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FO R T HE EL EV EN TH CIRC UI T

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N o. 06- 1104 1 Non-A rgum ent Calendar

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- BI AN o. A 79- 414- 730 LE ON ARD ME COL LA RI, Pet it io ne r, ve rs us U.S. ATTO RNEY GENERAL, Res po nd en t.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- - Petition for Reviewof a D ecision of the Bo ar d of I m m igr at ionAppe al s

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(A pr il 26, 200 7) Be fo re E D MO N D SO N , Ch ie f Judg e, BL A CK and M A RC U S, Ci rc uit

Jud ge s. PE R CU RIA M: L eo nard Me co llari ( “ Me co llari ”) pe tit ion s f or r ev ie wof

the Bo ar d of Im m igration Appeals’ (“ BIA ”) order , a ffirm ing th e Im m igration Ju dge’ s (“ IJ”)In his application, Mecollar i also claimed that his father ha d been a rre sted, detaine d, and beaten 1 sever al times by

the police in the 1980s for his secre t membership in the De m o cratic Party . But Mecollar i did not submit evidenc e cor roborating this claim and, at the hear ing be fore the I J , admitted th ath i s f ath e r h a d n e v e r b e e na m e mb e r o f th e D e m o c r at i c P arty. 2 de nia l of his appl ic at ionf

or a sy lum and w ith hol din g of

r em ova l un de r the Im m igr at ionand N at ion al ity A ct ( “ IN A ”) and the U nit ed

N at ion s C onve nti on A ga ins t T ortur e an d O the r Cr ue l, I nhum an , or

D eg ra din g T re atm en t or Punis hm en t ( “ CA T ”) . 8 U . S. C. §§ 1 158, 123 1, 8 C . F. R. § 20 8. 16( c) . W e se e no re ve rs ibl e er

ro r in the BI A ’ s or de r; w e de ny the pe tit ion . Me co llari , ana tiv e an d c iti ze n of A lbania , arr ive d inthe U nit ed S ta te s in Jul y 200 1 and r eq

ue ste d a sy lum . H e cl ai m ed that, a s am em

be r an d su

ppor te r of the m ino ri ty

D em oc ratic P ar

ty in A lbania , he ha d su ff

er ed pa st p er se cu tio n by So ci al is t g ov ern m en t an d fe aredfur th er ret rib ut io n i f he returne d t o Al ba ni a. Mecollari asserted that he had been arre sted and beaten by m em bers of the secr et pol ic e in 1 990 an d 20 01 and tha t po lic e ha d a lso be at enhim in 2000 w hil e he worked at an election center. In support of his claim s, Me collari subm itted 1 se ve ra l do cum en ts, inc lud ing ( 1) ac er tif ic at e of m em be rs hip in the D em oc ratic Party sig ne d by

“ T he Ch ie f of

Br an ch , ” statin g th at

Me co llari ha d part ic ipate d in polit ical activity

in the local elections in 20 00 and 20 01 and had b een threatened by the police in 200 1; (2) an unauthenticated report from an A lbanian ho spital3

ind ic at ing that M ec oll ar i w as hos pit al iz ed in 2000 f or tr eatm en t of

ale g w ound ca use d by apol ic e be at ing ; and ( 3) doc um en ts f ro m U . S. m ed ic al pe rs onne l st at ing that their exam s supp orted Mecollari’ s claim s of phy sical traum a. When qu es t i o n edb y th e I J o n th e l ac ko f aco rr o b o ra t i n g s t at emen tfr o m Me co l l ar i ’s father, Mecollari’ s counsel expl ained that the inform ation was unavailable – even tho ugh Me co llari ’ s f

athe r, m oth er , and s ist er

w er e re sid ing in G re ec e – be ca use Mec ol la ri h ada “ fal li ng ou t” wit h h is fat he r. A t the c onc lus ionof

the a sy lum

he ar ing , the I J r ec es se d to r ev ie wthe doc um en tary

e vid en ce , inc lud ing the U . S. D ep ar tm en t of S ta te and A m

ne sty In te rn at ion al Co untry

Re ports. T he I J th ende nie d M ec oll ar i’ s r eque sts f or a sy lum an d w ith hol din g of

r em ova l un de r the I N Aand the CA T . T he I J f ound that, al tho ugh Me co llari “pr ovi de d ar ea sona ble a m ount

of de ta il an d sp ec if

ic inf orm at ionr eg ar din g ge ne ra l po lit ic al a ct ivi tie s onbe ha lf of the D em oc ratic Party . . . [ an d] a lso pr ovi de d te sti m ony w hic h is pla

usi ble , on i ts f

ac e at le as t, ” the injuries Me collari suffer ed did no t rise to the level of past persecution and that Me co llari “ fa ile d to sus ta in h is b ur de n of pr oof thr oughthe pr es en ta tio n of corroborating docum entation . . . which w ouldbe rea sonablyavailable to him .” For the sam e re ason, the IJ found that Mecollari fa iled to establis h a w ell-founded4

fe ar of pe rs ec uti on. T he I J si m ilarl y de nie d M ec oll ar i’ s r eque sts f or w ith hol din g of rem ov al un de r th e INA an d t he CAT. The B IAdism issed Mecollari’ s appeal, a greeing with the IJ that Mec ollari fa ile d to sub m it suf

fi ci en t c or

ro bor at ing e vid en ce of

his arr es ts and b eatin gs t o sus ta in h is b ur de n of

pr oof of pa st p er se cu tio n or

to pr ovi de an e xpl an at ionf or the la ck of suc h e vid en ce . T he BI Aa lso f ound that M ec oll ar i f

ai le d to sho waw el lfounded fear of per secution, notin g that the 200 3 Country Report indicated that the A lbanian C onst itu tio n pr ovi de s c iti ze ns w iththe r igh t t o c hange the ir go ve rn m en t p eace fu ll y

an d t ha t n o c as es of p ol it ic al de te nt io ns were co nf irmed. T he BI Aa lso f

ound that M ec oll ar i ha d f

ai le d to e sta

bli sh e lig ibi lity

f or w ith hol din g of

r em ova l un de r the I N Aor the CA T . T his appe al f

oll ow ed . Beca use the BIA ’ s order did not exp ressly adopt the IJ’ s decision, but rested on i ts o w n r ea soni ng, w e re vie wonl y the BI A ’ s or de r. S ee A l N aj j ar v. A shc ro ft , 257 F.3d 126 2, 1284 (11th Cir. 2001 ). W e re view the BI A’ s factual determ ination s under the sub stantial evidence standard and therefore w ill affirm the BI A ’ s de ci sio n “ unl es s th e ev ide nc e ‘ co m pe ls’ ar ea sona

ble f ac t f ind er to fi nd otherwise. ” Se pulv eda v. U .S . A tt’ y Ge n., 401 F.3d 1226 , 1230 (11th Cir. 2005 )( ci ta tio n om itt ed ). W e re vie wthe BI A ’ s le ga l c onc lus ion s de nov o, but w ill5

de fe r to i ts r ea sona

ble int er pr et at ion s of

the I N A . B ro oks v. A shc ro ft , 283 F . 3d 12 68 , 12 72 (11 th Cir . 20 02 ). T o e sta bli sh e lig ibi lity

f or a sy lum pur suant t o I N A§ 20 8, 8 U . S. C. § 11 58, anappl ic an t m

ust de m onstrate – by

c re dib le and s pe ci fi c ev ide nc e – e ith er ( 1) pa st persecution on account of a statutorily listed factor or ( 2) a w ell-founded fear that the statutorilylisted factor w ill cause future persec ution . 8 C.F .R. § 208.13(a), (b ); A l N aj

j ar , 257 F . 3d at 12 84. A lth ough“ [un] co rr obor at ed but c re dib le te sti m ony m ay be suf fi ci en t t o su sta in the bur de n of pr oof f or de m onstratin g eligibil ity for asy lum [, ] . . . [t] he we aker an applicant’s testim ony , . . . the gre ater the ne ed f or c or ro bor at ive e vid en ce . ” Y an g v. U . S. A tt’ y G en . , 418 F . 3d 1 198, 1201 (11th Cir. 2005). Substantial evidence sup ports the BIA’ s finding that Mec ol la ri’s c la im s o f pa stpe rs ecu ti on lac ke d s uf fic ie nt co rro bo rat in g e vi de nc e. S e e 8 U. S . C . § 1 1 5 8 ( b ) ( 1 ) ( B ) ( i i ) ( i n d i c a t i n g th a tth e “ tr i e r o f f a c t[ may] determ ine[] that the application s houl d provid e evidence that corr oborates otherwise cr edible testim ony ”). Mecollari pr ovid ed no authenti cated evidence supp ortin g hi s c la im s of

arr es t, de te nti on, or

be at ing s by

the pol ic e. A t m ost , the au the nti cate d e vid en ce in the r ec or d sh ow s th at Me co llari ha s be enam em be r of the Dem ocratic P arty

since 1998 , has bee n threatened by the police, and hasAs we noted in Ya ng , we c annot depe nd on the ver acity of unauthe nticated r ecor ds. Yang , 418 2 F.3d at 1202-3 n.3. Thus, the unauthenticated hospi tal repor t from 2000 indicatingthat Mecollar i’s injuries wer e ca

used by a police be atingdoes not support his a ssertions of hara ssment by the police. But, even if we acc ept the re port as true , it does not nece ssarily corr oborate Mecollar i’s contention that the beatings we re politically motivated. 6 suf fe re d ph y sic al tr aum a in the pa st. Me co llari pr ovi de d no e vid en ce c om pe lli ng 2 the c onc lus ionthat he suf fe re d pe rs ec uti on o r inj ur y on a cc ount

of his m em be rs hip in th e Dem oc rat ic Part y . A nd the r ec or d do es not

c om pe l us to co nc lud e that e vid en ce c or ro bor at ing his assertions is unavailable. Se e 8 U .S .C. § 1252 (b)(4). Mecollari te stified that his m oth er

w as in the U . S. f

or appr oxi m at el y

one y ear af

te r he arr ive d he re and curr en tly li ve s inG re ec e w ithhis sis te r. H e al so t es tif ie d th at he e sc ap ed

f ro m Albania w ith the help o f fam ily and friends. He provided n o explanation to the IJ or the BI Aon why

he c oul d no t ob ta in s uppo rt ing a ff idavit s f ro m the se sourc es , other than to say

that he wa s not in touch with his father. Substantial evidence also sup ports the BIA’ s finding that Mecollari did not establis h a w ell-founded fear of persec ution , a s the m ost recent county reports indicate that there have bee n no po litically

m otivated detenti ons, im prisonm ents, or killings in rec ent y ears. See A l N aj j ar , 257 F . 3d at 12 89 ( not ing that f ear of f uture pe rs eu ct ionm

ust be

“ o b je ct i v el y re as o n ab l e” ). Th e B IA th er ef o re d i dn o terr i n d en yin g Me co l l ar i ’s a s yl u m c l a i m.7

B e c au s e M e c o l l a r i f

a i l e dt o s a t i s f

y t h e l o w e r

b u r d e n o f

p r o o f f o r a s yl u m, the BI Ac or

re ct ly de te rm ine d th at

Me co llari w as a lso ine lig ibl e fo r w ith hol din g of rem ov al un de r th e INA orth e CAT. See i d. at 12 92 -9 3; Fo rg ue v. U.S. Att ’y Gen., 401 F. 3d 1 282, 128 8 n. 4 ( 11th C ir . 200 5) . Me co llari ’ s pe tit ionf or r ev ie wis the re fo re de nie d. PETITION DENIED.