Bah

MEMORANDUM **

Ibrahima Bah, a citizen and native of Guinea, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (BIA) summaryaffirmance of an Immigration Judge’s (IJ) denial of his applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review an adverse credibility finding and a denial of asylum under the substantial evidence standard and will uphold the IJ’s decision unless the evidence compels a contrary conclusion. Lata v. INS, 204 F.3d 1241, 1244-45 (9th Cir.2000). As the parties are familiar with the facts, procedural history and arguments, we cite them only as necessary. We grant the petition.

We conclude that the IJ’s adverse credibility finding is not “based on ‘specific, cogent reasons,’ which are substantial and ‘bear a legitimate nexus to the finding.’” Chebchoub v. INS, 257 F.3d 1038, 1043 (9th Cir.2001) (internal brackets omitted) (quoting Cordon-Garcia v. INS, 204 F.3d 985, 993 (9th Cir.2000)). First, the IJ overstated and improperly relied on the inconsistencies between Bah’s written application and his hearing testimony. The only inconsistencies this court could…