Sahajeewa Rathnakumara Loku Kankanamge Don, Shiyamalie Amaratunga Achthi, Minul Thankula Kankanamge v. Alberto R. Gonzales, Attorney General

476 F.3d 738 Sahajeewa Rathnakumara Loku Kankanamge DON, Shiyamalie Amaratunga Achthi, Minul Thankula Kankanamge, Petitioners, v. Alberto R. GONZALES, Attorney General, Respondent. No. 03-74431. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted March 10, 2006. Filed February 9, 2007. Dan E. Korenberg (briefed), Orit Levit (argued), Korenberg, Abramowitz & Feldun, Sherman Oaks, CA, for the petitioners. Emily Anne Radford (briefed), David E. Dauenheimer (argued), Office of Immigration Litigation, United States Dept. of Justice, Civil Division, Washington, D.C., for the respondent. On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals. Agency Nos. Ahl-wqu-uuw, Ayg-fsq-nec, Awl-dfw-log. Before KIM McLANE WARDLAW and JOHNNIE B. RAWLINSON, Circuit Judges, and RICHARD F. CEBULL, * District Judge. RAWLINSON, Circuit Judge. 1 Petitioners Sahajeewa Rathnakumara Loku Kankanamge Don (Don), his wife, Shiyamalie Amaratunga Achthi, and their minor son, Minul Thankula Kankanamge, 1 natives and citizens of Sri Lanka, legally entered the United States in 2000 as visitors and overstayed their allotted time. They conceded that they are removable, but requested…

Petitioners Sahajeewa Rathnakumara Loku Kankanamge Don (Don), his wife, Shiyamalie Amaratunga Achthi, and their minor son, Minul Thankula Kankanamge, 1 natives and citizens of Sri Lanka, legally entered the United States in 2000 as visitors and overstayed their allotted time. They conceded that they are removable, but requested asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT), based on alleged persecution by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a rebel terrorist group in Sri Lanka also referred to as the Tamil Tigers. They also alleged persecution by the Terrorist Detective Bureau (TDB), a special unit of the Sri Lankan government formed by the army and police. They petition for review of the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) adopting and affirming the adverse credibility determination of the Immigration Judge (IJ) and the concomitant denial of asylum. 2 Because substantial evidence *740 supports the adverse credibility determination, we deny the petition.

I. BACKGROUND

Don alleges that he and his family received threats of physical harm from both the LTTE and the TDB, because a cook employed at the restaurant…

dissenting:

I respectfully must dissent from the majority in this particularly compelling case for asylum by a refugee from Sri Lanka, a country our State Department describes as rife with persecution of its citizens by both the government and terrorist organizations. Don had no choice but to flee Sri Lanka with his wife and two-year-old baby, leaving behind the rest of his family and two successful businesses, to escape persecution by both the Terrorist Detective Bureau (“TDB”), a government security agency, and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (“LTTE”), an extremely powerful and violent terrorist group.

After Moorthi Sennan, a cook in Don’s restaurant, was arrested for being a suspected terrorist, both the LTTE and the TDB harassed and threatened Don and his family. Don reported the threats to local police and asked for protection, but the local police did nothing except warn Don to be careful. The LTTE accused Don of being the one who turned Moorthi over to the authorities and threatened to kill Don and his family if Moorthi was not released in one week. Don understandably promised the LTTE he would do whatever he could to free Moorthi. Don filed another report with the…