Opinion ID: 3065380
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Committed by the Government

Text: The BIA concluded that Baghdasaryan was only a “victim . . . of criminal misconduct.” Therefore, the BIA did not view the Armenian government to be the source of Baghdasaryan’s persecution. This conclusion is not supported by substantial evidence. [9] “[W]hen the government is responsible for the persecution, the third prong of our asylum inquiry is satisfied without further analysis.” Baballah v. Ashcroft, 367 F.3d 1067, 1078 (9th Cir. 2004). Here, the evidence shows that Baghdasaryan was mistreated by the militia, National Security Service, the tax authority, and criminal investigators. Accordingly, any reasonable factfinder would be compelled to find that the Armenian government mistreated Baghdasaryan on account of his political opinion, as expressed through his opposition to government corruption. We therefore remand to the BIA to consider whether the threats, harassment, fines, detention, and beating that Baghdasaryan experienced rose to the level of persecution.8 8 Neither the IJ nor the BIA explicitly considered whether the mistreatment that Baghdasaryan experienced rose to the level of persecution. Accordingly, we are compelled to remand this question to the BIA. See, e.g., Deloso v. Ashcroft, 393 F.3d 858, 865 n.5 (9th Cir. 2005). In doing so, however, we note the credible evidence that Baghdasaryan was detained, beaten, and threatened on numerous occasions. See, e.g., Ahmed v. Keisler, 504 F.3d 1183, 1194 (9th Cir. 2007) (finding that detentions, beatings, and threats rose to the level of persecution where they were disproportionate to applicant’s civil disobedience); Ndom v. Ashcroft, 384 F.3d 743, 756 (9th Cir. 2004) (finding that threats and detentions for a total of twenty-five days constitutes persecution), superseded by statute on other grounds as stated by Parussimova v. Mukasey, 555 F.3d 734, 73940 (9th Cir. 2009). 950 BAGHDASARYAN v. HOLDER