Predrag Vukmirovic v. John Ashcroft, Attorney General

Vukmirovic petitions for review from the denial of his application for asylum and withholding of removal, his motion to reopen due to ineffective assistance of counsel, and his motion to reopen for relief under the Convention Against Torture. We grant the petition for review.

I

Predrag Vukmirovic is a Bosnian Serb from Bosnia-Herzegovina. In 1990, before the war in former Yugoslavia broke out on a full scale, Vukmirovic joined a chekne in Serbia, which he describes as an anti-communist group committed to the tenets of the Serbian Orthodox religion formed to defend his Serbian town against attacks. His father and grandfather had been members of the chekne when it was defending the region from fascist attacks during World War II. His grandparents were killed fighting German troops during this period.

The purpose of the chekne when Vukmi-rovic was a member was to defend his town from Bosnian Croats. His town was located near Croatian communities, one of which was just across a bridge. Vukmiro-vic testified that Croats would often come to his town to commit violent acts against the Serbs, including shooting. When they entered Vukmirovic’s town, members of the chekne would defend…