Singh

MEMORANDUM **

Mohinder Singh, a native and citizen of India, petitions for review of a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) dismissing his appeal from an immigration judge’s denial of asylum, withholding removal, and denying protection under the Convention Against Torture. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252 (a)(1) and we deny the petition for review.

We review the BIA’s denial of asylum for substantial evidence, and reverse only if the evidence was such that a reasonable factfinder would be compelled to conclude that the requisite fear of persecution existed. INS v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478, 481 , 112 S.Ct. 812 , 117 L.Ed.2d 38 (1992).

The BIA, assuming arguendo that Singh testified credibly and established past persecution on account of his political, economic and religious affiliations with the Sikhs, concluded that the government had rebutted the presumption of a well founded fear of prosecution through the introduction of the Department of State Profile of Asylum Claims for India for 1997, and the Department of Country Report for India for 1999. Portions of these documents specifically addressed the conditions in the Punjab, where Singh…