Opinion ID: 58225
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Torres’s Evidence

Text: Torres, a native and citizen of Colombia, testified that he was persecuted on account of his political opinion.2 According to Torres, he was a leader in a political movement affiliated with the Liberal Party of Colombia, and his political activities resulted in his persecution by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (“FARC”). Torres testified that he became affiliated with the Momiento Civico Colajuno political movement in 1996, and that he supported Pedro 1 The claims of Torres’s family rely on Torres’s claims, and thus we refer only to “Torres” in this opinion, except where otherwise noted. 2 While Torres also indicated on his asylum application that he was persecuted on account of membership in a particular social group, Torres’s petition for review only addresses persecution on account of political opinion, and so we do not address Torres’s membership in a social group. 2 Orjuelo’s campaign for councilman in approximately 1997, as well as Antonio Galan-Sarmiento’s campaign for councilman in approximately 2000. Torres testified about several incidents relating to his asylum claim. First, Torres explained that in October 1997, he attended a meeting in his hometown of Mesitas Del Colegio, and at the meeting, he was in charge of distributing pamphlets and other political propaganda for Orjuleo. Torres testified that upon leaving the meeting, his car was cut off by a jeep, and three men wearing military uniforms exited the jeep, pointed rifles at Torres, forced him out of his car, and pushed him to the ground. They looked through Torres’s political materials, warned him to stop causing problems in town, kicked him in the ribs, and took his car keys. Torres’s asylum application states that these men identified themselves as FARC members. In a second incident later in October 1997, three self-identified FARC members approached Torres while he was at a restaurant and told him he had to go with them. Torres escaped through a back door. That night, Torres’s wife received a telephone call during which the caller told her that Torres was a “coward” and could not hide, and the next day, Torres decided to move from Mesitas Del Colegio to Bogota. A third incident occurred in March 1998, while Torres was visiting Mesitas Del Colegio with his wife and mother-in-law. Two self-identified FARC members 3 approached Torres at a market and instructed Torres to accompany them. After Torres’s wife started screaming and a number of people crowded around, the FARC members ran away. Torres went to the police to report the incident, and the police told him that they would look for the two FARC members but refused to draw up an official police report because such incidents “happened frequently in town.” A few months thereafter, in August 1998, Torres’s wife received a threatening phone call from the FARC at their home in Bogota, and the FARC told Torres’s wife that he could not hide from them. The fourth and final incident detailed by Torres in his testimony and asylum application occurred in July 2000, when two gunshots were fired at Torres’s vehicle from an adjacent vehicle. Torres’s car was struck by the bullets, and he sped away, thinking that the gunman was trying to rob or kill him. That night, Torres received a phone call from the FARC telling him that he was a “military target” and that he would not be able to escape. Torres then came to the United States and has not returned to Colombia since. The IJ (1) found that Torres’s testimony was “largely consistent” with his asylum application, but still (2) denied Torres asylum, concluding that Torres did not meet his “burden of proof and persuasion” to show that he had been persecuted by the FARC.