Opinion ID: 6982600
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Presumption of Well-Founded Fear of Future Persecution

Text: Because Guinac suffered past persecution on account of his race, he is entitled to a legal presumption that he possesses a well-founded fear of future persecution. See 8 C.F.R. § 208.13(b)(l)(i); Singh II, 94 F.3d at 1360-61. In order to rebut this presumption, the INS must show by a preponderance of the evidence that country conditions have so changed that it is no longer more likely than not that Guinac would be persecuted there. Id. Because the BIA viewed Guinac’s past treatment as discrimination rather than persecution, it did not accord him the presumption of a well-founded fear, or consider whether the country conditions evidence in the record rebutted that presumption. The INS submitted the requisite country conditions information. It introduced into evidence the 1995 State Department Country Report and the State Department Profile for Guatemala for that year. Had the Board engaged in the “individualized analysis” of country conditions required by our case law, see Osorio v. INS, 99 F.3d 928, 933 (9th Cir.1996); Berroteran-Melendez v. INS, 955 F.2d 1251, 1257 (9th Cir.1992), it would have been compelled to find that the INS’ country conditions information fails totally to rebut the presumption that Guinac has a well-founded future fear of persecution. In fact, the INS’ evidence, .taken as a whole, supports, rather than controverts, Guinac’s application for asylum. The Country Report describes major human rights violations committed by members of the army and specifically states that “[i]ndigenous people suffered most of the serious human rights abuses described.” Likewise, the Profile, although it reports increased curbs on the Guatemalan armed forces “in the offing,” also describes frequent claims of government-sponsored or condoned mistreatment of Indians. Because Guinac clearly established that he suffered past persecution and the INS failed to rebut the resulting presumption that he has a well-founded fear of future persecution, we hold that Guinac is statutorily eligible for asylum. 7