Hovhannisyan

MEMORANDUM **

Karine Hovhannisyan and her two minor children, Jora and Ani Papoyan, natives and citizens of Armenia, petition for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) decision dismissing their appeal from an immigration judge’s denial of their applications for asylum and withholding of removal. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review for substantial evidence, see Sagaydak v. Gonzales, 405 F.3d 1035, 1041-42 (9th Cir.2005), and we deny in part and grant in part the petition for review.

Substantial evidence supports the BIA’s determination that Hovhannisyan failed to establish that members of the Armenian government persecuted her on account of her political opinion because the record is inconclusive as to what her political beliefs were, and whether her abusers were aware of them. See Navas v. INS, 217 F.3d 646, 656 (9th Cir.2000) (in order to establish a claim based on political opinion an applicant must show that he held a political opinion and that he was persecuted because of that opinion). Moreover, the record does not compel the conclusion that Hovhannisyan’s abusers knew of her husband’s political beliefs, imputed his political beliefs…