Ratnam v. I.N.S., 97-70000

• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (9th Circuit)
• Writing for the Court: FLETCHER
• Citation: 154 F.3d 990
• Parties: 98 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 6772, 98 Daily Journal D.A.R. 9433 Kugarajah RATNAM, Petitioner, v. IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE, Respondent.
• Docket Number: No. 97-70000,97-70000
• Decision Date: 31 August 1998

Page 990

154 F.3d 990 98 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 6772, 98 Daily Journal
D.A.R. 9433 Kugarajah RATNAM, Petitioner,
v.
IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE, Respondent. No. 97-70000. United States Court of Appeals,
Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted June 4, 1998.
Decided Aug. 31, 1998.

Page 991

Judith L. Wood, Jesse A. Moorman, Los Angeles, California, for the petitioner.

Margaret L. Perry, Office of Immigration Litigation, United States Department of Justice, Washington, DC, for the respondent.

Petition to Review an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals. INS No. A72-971-125.

Before: FLETCHER, D.W. NELSON and SILVERMAN, Circuit Judges.

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FLETCHER, Circuit Judge:

Kugarajah Ratnam, a 28-year old native and citizen of Sri Lanka, petitions for review of the BIA's affirmance of the IJ's order of exclusion and deportation. Ratnam claims that the BIA erred in holding that the presumption of political motivation arising from his torture by the Sri Lankan government was rebutted by evidence that the government's purpose was to gather intelligence regarding terrorist activity. We grant the petition and remand so that the BIA may grant withholding of deportation and exercise its discretion whether to grant asylum.

I.

Kugarajah Ratnam was detained by the INS in San Francisco, California, on March 11, 1995, and charged with excludability on the grounds that he attempted to enter the United States without a valid immigrant visa, that he sought to procure entry by wilfully misrepresenting a material fact and that he was likely to become a public charge. In a hearing before an Immigration Judge, Ratnam conceded excludability, but applied for asylum and withholding of deportation based on fear of future persecution on account of an imputed political opinion. Ratnam fears persecution if returned to Sri Lanka due to the government's previous imprisonment and torture of him under the mistaken belief that he was a member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam ("Tigers" or "LTTE").

Ratnam testified before the IJ that he was a fisherman in Sri Lanka with his own fishing boat. Ratnam, an ethnic Tamil, lived with his wife and two children in the Jaffna district of Sri Lanka, a stronghold of the LTTE. Ongoing conflict with the Sinhalese majority Sri Lankan government in the area is endemic.

Ratnam further testified that, despite his Hindu belief in nonviolence, he was forced throughout his adult life to pay a "war tax" to the LTTE under the threat of death. Those who refused support to the Tigers were killed and signs were hung around the necks of the corpses stating "because this person informed against us to the Army, this is the punishment we have given him."

In March 1994, two men dressed in the uniform of the LTTE came to Ratnam's house and ordered him to help them transport their cargo in his fishing boat. Ratnam initially told them that, although he supported the Tigers financially, he did not want to participate in their violent struggle. Nevertheless, Ratnam was made to cooperate, and on 25 to 30 occasions he transported their goods in his boat. Ratnam was forced to do so at gunpoint believing that refusal to cooperate would result not only in his death but that of his family as well.

On January 16, 1995, the LTTE again ordered Ratnam to transport their cargo, eight to ten sacks of weapons, to the island of Mandaithivu. Two Tigers accompanied him on this mission. While at sea, they were chased and ultimately captured by the Sri Lankan navy. The Tigers committed suicide by taking cyanide capsules to avoid capture by the navy.

The navy confiscated Ratnam's boat and took him to a nearby base where he was detained for two days. On the first evening, Ratnam was beaten and asked repeatedly why he did not swallow a cyanide capsule like the other Tigers. Ratnam told the navy officers that he was not a Tiger, but a fisherman with a family to support. Ratnam was thrown against a wall, where he hit his head and lost consciousness. When he awoke the next morning, Ratnam was forced to sign a document, which he suspected to be a confession, but which he could not read because it was written in Sinhalese.

The following day, Ratnam was transported to the capital city of Colombo and then to the Wellikade Army Camp. Ratnam was held there for 25 days, during which time he was interrogated, kicked and beaten with batons, gun butts and plastic pipes filled with sand. Ratnam was also tipped upside down and his head immersed in a drum of water. His interrogators repeatedly demanded that he admit to being a Tiger, demanded the whereabouts or location of the Tigers, asked him to become an informer against any Tigers in his family, and threatened him with "problems" if he did not agree.

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Ratnam was finally released when his uncle bribed one of the Sinhalese officials. Ratnam then fled Sri Lanka, arriving in San Francisco on March 11, 1995. Ratnam testified that he fears that the Sri Lankan military would consider him an escaped LTTE terrorist because the officer who took the bribe for his release reported that Ratnam had escaped. Ratnam also testified that he fears arrest, torture and death by the military should he be returned to Sri Lanka.

In opposition to Ratnam's application for withholding of deportation and asylum, the INS submitted the State Department "Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1994" for Sri Lanka. The report acknowledged the ongoing conflict between the LTTE and the government and stated, inter alia, that, although Sri Lanka had recently acceded to the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, government security forces continued to torture and mistreat detainees with beatings, near drownings and forced positions.

Following the evidentiary hearing, the IJ denied Ratnam's application for relief from exclusion on the grounds that he had "not shown that a reasonable person in his position would have a well-founded fear of persecution from Government authorities or any other group." The IJ found Ratnam to be "not a totally credible witness," specifically with regard to his claims that he did not participate knowingly or voluntarily in the Tiger gun-running, and that he had no knowledge of the location of the LTTE camps. The IJ concluded that Ratnam had not shown persecution by the government on account of any political opinion.

A divided panel of the BIA affirmed the decision of the IJ. The majority noted the IJ's concerns regarding Ratnam's credibility on certain subjects, but determined that "[t]here is no indication that the Immigration Judge disbelieved the material facts relating to his persecution claim by the Sri Lankan authorities which are relevant to our legal determination now." Accordingly, the Board deemed Ratnam "a credible witness" with respect to the matters material to his appeal. Nevertheless, the majority held that Ratnam had failed to establish that he was a victim of past persecution on account of an imputed political opinion.

One BIA Member dissented, citing Harpinder Singh v. Ilchert, 63 F.3d 1501 (9th Cir.1995), which held that, where no charges were filed against the petitioner, the torture inflicted upon him as a civilian deemed to be a political opponent during a civil war must be presumed to be on account of his imputed...