Omer

*780 MEMORANDUM **

Mohamed Ahmed Omer, a native and citizen of Ethiopia, petitions for review of the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) affirming the immigration judge’s (“IJ”) denial of asylum and withholding of removal because of the IJ’s adverse credibility determination. As the BIA summarily affirmed the decision of the IJ, we review that decision as if it were the BIA’s. See Al-Harbi v. INS, 242 F.3d 882, 887-88 (9th Cir.2001).

The IJ found that Omer’s testimony regarding his past detention and torture by the government on account of his membership in the Ml Amhara People’s Organization was “unsupported and seems to be inconsistent with the information provided by the State Department ... report,” raising a “serious issue of credibility.” This court has, however, consistently rejected exclusive reliance on State Department reports as the basis for adverse credibility determinations. See Shah v. INS, 220 F.3d 1062, 1068 (9th Cir.2000) (finding that “relying exclusively on a blanket statement in a State Department report, the BIA and the IJ fail[ ] to make the individualized analysis of an applicant’s credibility that our case law mandates.”). The passages…