Terteryan

MEMORANDUM ***

Karo Terteryan, a native and citizen of Armenia, petitions pro se for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) decision affirming the Immigration Judge’s denial of his applications for asylum, withholding of removal and protection under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). We have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252 (a). Because the BIA adopted the IJ’s decision and also gave reasons of its own, we review both decisions. See Kataria v. INS, 232 F.3d 1107, 1112 (9th Cir. 2000). We deny the petition for review.

Terteryan’s single complaint against certain drunken Security Agents for assaulting him during a routine traffic stop was not directed toward a governing institution, but rather toward individuals whose corruption was aberrational. See Grava v. INS, 205 F.3d 1177, 1181 (9th Cir.2000). The evidence does not compel the conclusion that the Security Agents’ subsequent harassment was based on anything other than purely personal retribution, “completely untethered to a governmental system.” Id. at 1181, n. 3 . Accordingly, substantial evidence supports *889 the agency’s determination that Terteryan failed to establish past persecution on account…