Ninth Circuit Remands Iraqi’s Asylum Petition

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) - The Ninth Circuit remanded the asylum petition of Iraqi Thamir Aziz Hanna because the conditions in Iraq have changed drastically since Saddam Hussein and the Baath party lost power in 2003.

Hanna, a Chaldean Catholic, claimed he was arrested, detained, beaten and tortured by Baathists because they accused him of belonging to the Assyrian Democratic Party.

The court said the government failed to make any showing on whether Hanna faces religious persecution in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq. See ruling in Hanna v. Keisler.

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