Opinion ID: 202159
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Evidence before the IJ and BIA

Text: 4 In support of her application for asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT relief, Hayek testified that she experienced a series of threats and physical attacks while she was involved with the Lebanese Forces, a Christian military and political group opposed to the presence of Syrian forces in Lebanon. Hayek, a Maronite Christian, joined the Lebanese Forces in 1982 and eventually became responsible for various administrative activities of the Lebanese Forces' political party and student group. 5 The violent incidents began in early 1992, when Hayek was participating in a political demonstration for the Lebanese Forces party in Lebanon. Syrian and Lebanese soldiers hit and kicked the demonstrators. Hayek, who was standing near the front of the demonstration, was beaten with the soldiers' rifles. Two days later, four soldiers came to her house. Hayek's mother helped Hayek leave the house through the back door, and Hayek hid in a farmhouse in the mountains for several days. 6 Approximately a month later in March 1992, when Hayek was out of hiding and visiting a sick relative, two armed men in civilian clothing stopped her as she was entering her car, calling her Officer Marie and telling her, you Christians, your days are over. One of the men grabbed her by the neck and ripped up a picture of a saint that she had placed in the dashboard of the car. After the men left, Hayek again went into hiding for a month and a half. 7 A few months later, when Hayek was leaving a party at the local university with some friends, Syrian men forced their vehicle off the road and pulled the passengers out of the car. One of the men, addressed by the others as Corporal, grabbed Hayek by the hair, forcibly kissed her, and attempted to rape her. Hayek escaped and flagged down a passing car, fleeing to her sister's house, where she received treatment from a doctor. 8 Approximately four weeks later, Syrian intelligence forces approached Hayek and her siblings at a local store. The men questioned Hayek's brother about his identity. They did not recognize Hayek but stated that they were looking for her. 9 Two weeks later, Hayek fled Lebanon. Using a visa that a friend in the United States helped her to obtain, Hayek arrived in the United States in September 1992. She stayed at the home of her sister, where her fiancé — a former member of the Lebanese Forces who had arrived in the United States three years earlier — had also been staying. She married her fiancé approximately eleven days later. 10 When asked why she failed to apply for asylum upon her arrival or at any time prior to the removal proceedings, Hayek explained, I was very scared ... because I know what's going to happen to me if I went back there. Hayek holds a college degree. When asked if she had any further contact with the Lebanese Forces, Hayek stated that she ended her participation in their activities when she left the country. However, she explained that, in 2001, she had called her uncle, a member of the Lebanese Forces with whom Hayek had worked closely. He warned her not to come back because Syrian intelligence forces had detained and tortured him and other Lebanese Forces members and still sought to question Hayek. Hayek did not submit an affidavit from this uncle confirming the conversation. Hayek noted in her affidavit that the police had come to her home in Lebanon to arrest her on three occasions in 1996 and 1999. 11 Along with her testimony, Hayek submitted additional evidence in support of her claims. She presented two witnesses. Fares Hayek, Hayek's brother-in-law, testified that he knew Hayek in Lebanon and that they were both members of the Lebanese Forces. Khalil Hayek, Hayek's husband's cousin, stated that he was a clerk who did paperwork for the Lebanese Forces and that he knew Hayek when they were both members of the group. Neither affiant testified to the attacks that Hayek claimed to have suffered. 12 Hayek also submitted written statements from various individuals in Lebanon. Archbishop Bechara Rahi, head of the Maronite Archbishopric in Jbeil, Lebanon, stated that Hayek is a member of the Lebanese Forces Party; that she was forced to leave Lebanon due to the political and security situation in that country; and that the current situation in the country still prevents her from returning, but provided no specific facts. Eli Maroun Zagib, a selectman of the town of Amsheat, Lebanon, stated that Hayek is wanted by the police for her belonging to the party of the Lebanese forces, but also provided no details. 13 Perhaps the most helpful written statement was from Dr. Antoine B. Issa, who stated that he treated Hayek for bruises caused by a physical attack in 1992, but provided no details as to the attack or treatment. Fouad Malik, Commander of the Lebanese Forces, stated that Hayek was a member of the Lebanese Forces from 1982 until 1989. This, as the government points out, is inconsistent with Hayek's own testimony that she was an active member until 1992, when she said the persecution began. 14 Hayek also submitted country conditions reports, including the State Department 2002 and 1999 Country Reports on Lebanon, the Amnesty International 1999 Annual Report on Lebanon, several Human Rights Watch documents, and various reports and articles discussing Syrian involvement in Lebanon and the treatment of anti-Syrian demonstrators and protestors.