Opinion ID: 1303172
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Claim of Persecution

Text: In support of her applications, Kone claimed that she had been persecuted in Côte d'Ivoire by being subjected to genital mutilation, and feared that her two daughters, both United States citizens, would be subjected to such mutilation if she were removed. Kone also alleged persecution because of her Dioula ethnicity, her Muslim religion, and her member in the opposition political group Rally of the Republicans (RDR), which is associated with the Dioula people. Through her Form I-589 asylum application and in testimony before the IJ, Kone provided the following account: Born on September 30, 1973, in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, Kone recalls that when she was eight years old, [t]wo ... old ladies and my grandmother pushed me on the ground. They held my hands and opened my feet widely while [a] third old lady cut my private parts with an old and dirty knife. She cut my clitoris at the base. The pain was so unbearable that I passed out. I was bleeding heavily. There was no anesthesia to calm the pain. When I woke up, I was covered with sheets. I was still bleeding and the pain was too much for me. No one ever took me to the hospital or even call[ed] a doctor. Those old ladies have no medical experience. My grandmother put herbs on the wound. They cleaned it and made a potion made of boiled herbs hoping to stop the bleeding. I suffered a lot. I felt my private parts burning every time I urinated. Kone continues to suffer from this procedure, physically and emotionally, with painful and disorganized periods and a very painful pregnancy and delivery. As an adult, Kone traveled back and forth between Côte d'Ivoire and the United States several times before seeking asylum. She first came to the United States on a visitor's visa in July 2002, and returned to Côte d'Ivoire a month later. On November 15, 2002, while Kone was back in Côte d'Ivoire, the government arrested many members of the RDR political opposition party, including Kone, who had been a rank and file member since 1999. On that day, while Kone was at work at the National Agency for Rural Development (ANADER)  a private firm in Abidjan, where she had worked as a cashier since finishing high school  two police officers found Kone carrying an RDR membership card and arrested her. Kone was jailed for ten days, during which time she was beaten daily, denied drinking water, and required to walk naked in front of the guards, one of whom attempted to rape her. Upon her release, the guards warned Kone that they would catch and kill her if she continued to support the RDR. After this incident, Kone and her family discussed the possibility of her fleeing Côte d'Ivoire. At that point, however, Kone was optimistic that the political and ethnic strife in the country would resolve, and accordingly, she remained in Côte d'Ivoire, and continued her employment with ANADER. Kone did, however, travel to the United States between March and September 2003, and during this second visit had a baby daughter. On September 13, 2003, Kone returned with her daughter to Côte d'Ivoire, where they stayed for two months before coming back to the United States on November 15 for a pediatric checkup. Five days after Kone and her daughter came to the United States, Kone's father was killed while praying at a mosque in Abidjan that was stormed by armed supporters of Côte d'Ivoire's president. Kone remained in the United States for several months following this incident, returning to Côte d'Ivoire in March 2004. This time, Kone only remained in Côte d'Ivoire for two months before she returned to the United States. Kone's last trip to Côte d'Ivoire occurred in October 2004. She had been back in Côte d'Ivoire for several weeks when the government bombed Dioula towns, killing more than 250 people. Because of the situation for the Dioula people, combined with the pressure Kone faced from her family to subject her daughter  who was nearing the age at which young girls in Côte d'Ivoire are subjected to genital mutilation  to that procedure, Kone resolved to leave the country for good. Kone departed Côte d'Ivoire for the last time on January 11, 2005. She was admitted to the United States a few days later on a temporary visa and timely applied for asylum. While the application was pending, Kone gave birth to a second daughter.