Opinion ID: 2973555
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: U.S. State Department Reports

Text: Mr. Sterkaj also challenges the IJ’s finding that his claim of political persecution conflicts with Albania’s country conditions as described in the 1998 and 2001 U.S. State Department Profiles of Asylum Claims and Country Conditions for Albania. He first contends that the IJ erred in relying on the 2001 report, because he testified to, and based his claim on, events that occurred in 1998. Assuming the IJ erred in relying on the 2001 report, the 1998 Country Report on Human Rights Practices for Albania, upon which the IJ also relied, nonetheless provides substantial evidence to support the IJ’s finding. That report relayed that although “opposition political leaders frequently charged that the Government arbitrarily arrested and detained its supporters on political grounds[,] [t]here is little solid evidence to back up these claims, and most international observers believe they are baseless.” It adds that despite a November 10 incident when police arrested three DP supporters, “[t]here were no clear cases of detainees being held for strictly political reasons.” U.S. State Department reports, which “are generally the best source of information on conditions in foreign nations,” Mullai v. Ashcroft, 385 F.3d 635, 639 (6th Cir. 2004) (quotation omitted), provide context about Albania so that the fact finder may assess Mr. Sterkaj’s credibility. See Duarte de Guinac v. INS, 179 F.3d 1156, 1162 (9th Cir. 1999). Though, as Mr. Sterkaj points out, the reports do not rule out the existence of political persecution in Albania, we do not quarrel with the IJ’s assessment that they are inconsistent with, and thus undermine, Mr. Sterkaj’s claim. No evidence compels us to reach a factual conclusion contrary to that reached by the IJ. No. 04-4232 Sterkaj, et al. v. Gonzales Page 4