Seble Kebede v. John Ashcroft, Attorney General

Seble Kebede petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeal’s (“BIA”) final order denying her request for asylum and withholding of deportation. Because the BIA affirmed the Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) decision without opinion, we review the IJ’s decision as the final agency action. Falcon Carriche v. Ashcroft, 350 F.3d 845, 849 (9th Cir.2003). The IJ erred in making an adverse credibility determination and in finding that Kebede failed to support her claim of past persecution with substantial evidence.

I. Background

Kebede, an Ethiopian citizen, comes from a family that was powerful during the rule of former Emperor Haile Selassie. After Emperor Selassie was deposed in 1974, Kebede’s uncle, the former governor of Harar, was assassinated along with fifty-nine other officials by the Dergue revolutionary government. Her stepfather, the former minister of foreign affairs, was imprisoned, and died shortly after his release from illness and injuries resulting from beatings by prison officials. Dergue officials visited Kebede’s house frequently, conducting searches and occasionally taking her mother, Shitaye Wolde Amanuel (“Amanuel”), and brothers into custody for questioning.…