Opinion ID: 3027744
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Substantive evidence presented

Text: At the merits hearing on May 7, 2004, Fadiga submitted evidence in the form of his own testimony, as well as several exhibits. Fadiga’s testimony presented, in relevant part, the following set of facts: Soriba Fadiga, who was 44 years old at the time of the 2004 hearing, is a native and citizen of Guinea, a Muslim, and an ethnic 5 Although the fact that the BIA “consider[ed Fadiga’s] motion [to reopen] as a motion to remand” creates some ambiguity of terminology, it has no substantive effect on our review. “We consider [motions to reopen and motions to remand] as equivalent for jurisdictional and standard of review purposes . . . . Both devices require the proceedings to be reopened, . . . and as such they are functionally identical.” Korytnyuk v. Ashcroft, 396 F.3d 272, 282 (3d Cir. 2005); accord In re L-V-K-, 22 I. & N. Dec. 976, 978 (BIA 1999) (en banc). For the sake of clarity and consistency, in the balance of this opinion we refer to Fadiga’s motion as a “motion to reopen.” 5 Mandingo. He claimed to have been to be a close relative of Sékou Touré, the first president of independent Guinea, who held that office from 1958 until his death in 1984. From at least the early 1980s, Fadiga was active in Sékou Touré’s political party, the PDG,6 serving as a regional secretary of youth. Shortly after Sékou Touré died, a coup ousted the PDG from power and installed a new president, Lansana Conté. Whereas Sékou Touré, like Fadiga, had been of Mandingo or Malinké ethnicity, Lansana Conté was an ethnic Soussou. At the May 7, 2004 hearing, Fadiga was, according to the IJ, “quite animated about [political] problems that his family had” after the PDG lost power, including the politically motivated murder of at least one relative, Fadiga’s uncle Ismail Touré. E.R. at 21 (Oral Dec. of IJ). Fadiga testified that, as a result of these problems, his father left Guinea for Côte d’Ivoire in or around 1986. As to his own political problems, Fadiga further testified that he had been a founding member of a post-coup, opposition party—the RPG, led by Alpha Condé—and that, after “problems associated with the 1990 elections,” he too was at risk. Id. at 20–21. For this reason, in early 1991, Fadiga also fled to Côte d’Ivoire. Soon after Fadiga’s departure, an arrest warrant was issued for him by the Guinean government, apparently on a charge of “public disorder.” See A.R. 403 (purported arrest warrant stating charge as “pour désordre publique”). From Côte d’Ivoire, Fadiga was able to pay money to procure a fraudulent Guinean passport and United States visa. He traveled to the United States from Côte d’Ivoire in April 1991. Fadiga continued to be “actively involved” with the RPG party in the United States, through his involvement in the expatriate Guinean community, and he has participated in demonstrations here against President Conté. E.R. at 22–23 (Oral Dec. of IJ). Fadiga asserted at the May 7, 2004 hearing that he “fear[ed] being arrested, tortured, or killed” if he were to return to Guinea and that he was “100% sure” that he would be arrested at the 6 The full appellations associated with various Guinean political-party acronyms were a source of controversy at the hearing, as discussed below in note 8 and the accompanying text. 6 airport and taken to prison. Id. at 18 (IJ’s summary of Fadiga’s testimony). He cited his Mandingo tribal roots, his family’s political affiliation, his former position as a youth leader of an opposing political party (the PDG), his subsequent RPG membership, and his continuing protest activity while in the United States as factors which would cause him to be targeted by the Conté regime. The evidence offered by Fadiga in support of the above testimony included, in relevant part, six documents from governmental and non-governmental agencies and the media regarding human rights abuses in Guinea, and three additional documents offered to corroborate Fadiga’s version of the facts. The corroborating documents were (1) a purported original Guinean arrest warrant issued against Fadiga on January 5, 1991; (2) a document dated January 3, 1993, purportedly showing Fadiga to be a member of the “RPG” political party; and (3) a second document verifying Fadiga’s affiliation with the RPG as of October 15, 2003.7