Opinion ID: 795965
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture

Text: 36 Finally, we address Ali's contention that the BIA should have granted him deferral of removal under the CAT, implemented at 8 C.F.R. §§ 1208.16-18. 5 The BIA denied Ali relief under the CAT because it determined that he had not shown he would more likely than not face torture if removed to Somalia. We review the BIA's factual findings for substantial evidence; this means we will reverse the BIA's decision only if the evidence in the record compels a contrary conclusion. Jun Ying Wang v. Gonzales, 445 F.3d 993, 997 (7th Cir.2006). 37 Ali is entitled to deferral of removal— the relief is mandatory, not discretionary—if he can prove that it is more likely than not he would be tortured if removed to Somalia. 8 C.F.R. § 1208.16(c)(2) and (4). The BIA was required to consider all evidence relevant to the possibility of future torture . . . including, but not limited to evidence that Ali suffered past torture, evidence that he could relocate to a part of Somalia where he is not likely to be tortured, evidence of gross, flagrant or mass violations of human rights in Somalia, and other relevant information about Somalia's country conditions. 8 C.F.R. § 1208.16(c)(3). For purposes of the CAT, torture has the following definition: 38 [A]ny act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or her or a third person information or a confession, punishing him or her for an act he or she or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or her or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. 39 8 C.F.R. § 1208.18(a)(1). Mental pain or suffering constitutes torture if it results from, among other things, the intentional infliction or threatened infliction of severe physical pain or suffering, the threat of imminent death, and the threat that another person will imminently be subjected to death, severe physical pain or suffering. 8 C.F.R. § 1208.18(a)(4). The requirement that torture be inflicted by or with the acquiescence of a public official is met if prior to the activity constituting torture, a public official is aware of the activity and then breach[es] his or her legal responsibility to intervene to prevent such activity. 8 C.F.R. § 1208.18(a)(7). 40 The BIA acknowledged that Ali would probably face [clan-based] harm and possibly torture if returned to live for prolonged periods in certain areas of Somalia that are not controlled by the Rahanweyn. But the Board concluded the only risks to which Ali would be exposed in the Rahanweyn-controlled areas would be based on his perceived wealth for having lived in the United States or because of the random violence and looting that plagues the Bay and Bakool regions. In the BIA's view, violence would not be inflicted for the purpose of causing severe mental or physical pain or suffering, and would not be motivated by the desire to obtain from Ali a confession or information, to punish or coerce him, or to discriminate against him. See 8 C.F.R. § 1208.18(a)(1) (requiring torture to be attributable to these motives). Accordingly, the BIA found Ali had not shown he was more likely than not to face torture if removed to Somalia and denied relief under the CAT. 41 The BIA reached these conclusions by ignoring key evidence, overlooking Dr. Samatar's testimony that Ali would be targeted for violence in the Rahanweyn-controlled areas because of his particular lineage within his clan, not just for being perceived as wealthy for having lived in the United States. The BIA failed to take into account Dr. Samatar's testimony that the Rahanweyn infighting depends on . . . your clan lineage and that violence and torture are perpetrated with the intent to punish clan members. 42 We also find remarkable the BIA's overall conclusion that Ali did not present[] evidence of past harm which is necessarily linked to his clan membership and which bolsters the belief he will be tortured in the future. The BIA reached this conclusion only by omitting any mention of the attempted rape and murder of Ali's sister and the violence Ali endured personally. Soldiers from the invading Hawiye clan attempted to rape Ali's sister, then killed her when she resisted. This atrocity took place in the context of the interclan warfare between the dominant Hawiye and the Rayanweyn, and it was carried out in the Ali family home with Ali—who was then sixteen years old—looking on. Ali himself was shot at and beaten by militiamen affiliated with the Hawiye. The BIA also made no mention of the clan-based violence Ali suffered at the hands of the Darod militia on the Somali-Kenyan border after fleeing from the Hawiye. The record reflects that the violence Ali witnessed and experienced had a profound psychological effect on him, precipitating post-traumatic stress disorder. 43 By focusing narrowly on the deaths of Ali's two brothers—both of which could plausibly be attributed to the generally unsafe, lawless conditions in Somalia-the BIA sidestepped critical evidence it was required to consider. 8 C.F.R. § 1208.16(c)(3). When all the relevant evidence is properly considered, the record compels the conclusion that Ali would more likely than not face torture if removed to Somalia. 6 44 Because the BIA found Ali was not likely to face torture in Somalia, it left open the question whether he would face torture at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. 8 C.F.R. § 1208.18(a)(1). The parties have not fully briefed this issue on appeal—each only briefly mentioning the matter—so the prudent course is to remand the case for the BIA to consider whether Ali established the official capacity element of his CAT claim.