[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1266 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 1266
Condemning the attack on the Argentine Jewish Mutual Association Jewish
Community Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in July 1994 and
encouraging accountability for the attack.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 31, 2024
Ms. Wasserman Schultz (for herself, Mr. Diaz-Balart, Mr. Espaillat, and
Mr. Tony Gonzales of Texas) submitted the following resolution; which
was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Condemning the attack on the Argentine Jewish Mutual Association Jewish
Community Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in July 1994 and
encouraging accountability for the attack.
Whereas, 30 years ago, on July 18, 1994, 85 innocent people were killed and 300
were injured when the Argentine Jewish Mutual Association (hereinafter
referred to as ``AMIA'') was bombed in Buenos Aires, Argentina;
Whereas the AMIA bombing was the deadliest attack on Jewish people outside
Israel since the Holocaust;
Whereas it is reported that considerable evidence links the attack to the
terrorist group Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon, supported by the
Government of the Syrian Arab Republic, and sponsored by Iran, a United
States-designated state sponsor of terrorism since 1984;
Whereas, 2 years earlier, Hezbollah operatives also blew up the Israeli embassy
in Buenos Aires, killing 29 civilians and injuring 242;
Whereas the 30 years since the bombing have been marred by a failure to bring
those responsible, including Iran-backed operatives and their Hezbollah
proxies, to justice;
Whereas, in September 2004, 10 years after the attack, Alberto Nisman was
appointed as the Special Prosecutor in charge of the 1994 AMIA bombing
investigation;
Whereas, in October 2006, Argentine prosecutors Alberto Nisman and Marcelo
Martinez Burgos formally accused the Iranian regime of directing the
bombing, and the Hezbollah militia of carrying it out;
Whereas Ibrahim Hussein Berro, a member of the terrorist group Hezbollah, was
identified as the AMIA bomber;
Whereas, in November 2006, an Argentine judge issued arrest warrants for 8
Iranian nationals, including high-ranking government and military
officials, and one Lebanese national, who were named as suspects in the
AMIA bombing;
Whereas, in November 2007, INTERPOL voted to put the following suspects in the
1994 AMIA attack on its most wanted list: Ali Fallahijan, Mohsen
Rabbani, Ahmad Reza Asghari, Ahmad Vahidi, and Mohsen Razaee from Iran
and Imad Fayez Moughnieh from Lebanon;
Whereas INTERPOL currently has 5 red alerts in place in relation to the AMIA
attack;
Whereas the investigation of the AMIA bombing has been marked by judicial
misconduct and undue influence;
Whereas no Iranian suspects for the AMIA bombing have faced prosecution;
Whereas former Federal judge Juan Jose Galeano and former State Intelligence
Secretariat intelligence head Hugo Anzorreguy have both been convicted
and sentenced to prison for subverting the investigation and concealing
evidence;
Whereas, in 2019, the Argentine Government declared Hezbollah a terrorist
organization, expelled all members of the organization from the country,
and froze their assets in Argentina;
Whereas, in 2020, Argentine President Alberto Fernandez reaffirmed the
commitment of the Argentine Republic to bring those responsible for the
attack to justice;
Whereas, in 2021, Ahmad Vahidi and Mohsen Rezai, 2 Iranian suspects from the
1994 bombing, were appointed by Iran's Ebrahim Raisi, and confirmed by
the Islamic Consultative Assembly, to the Iranian Cabinet;
Whereas, on April 12, 2024, Argentina's highest criminal court, the Argentine
Court of Cassation, broke the extended silence of the justice system by
affirming Iran's responsibility for the deadly bombing and declaring it
a ``crime against humanity'';
Whereas, according to news reports of the ruling, the court identified ``top
Iranian officials and paramilitary Revolutionary Guard commanders in its
determination that Iran carried out the bombings in response to
Argentina scrapping three contracts that would have provided Tehran with
nuclear technology in the mid-1980s'';
Whereas Argentine President Javier Milei commended the high court's ruling,
noting that the determination was a ``significant step'' that put an end
to decades of ``delays and cover-ups'';
Whereas leaders in the Argentine Jewish community, including AMIA President Amos
Linetzky, noted that the historic ruling would finally provide an
opportunity for survivors and relatives of victims to seek legal action
against Iran;
Whereas the Foreign Ministry of Argentina responded to the court's ruling by
requesting that INTERPOL issue an immediate international arrest notice
for Ahmad Vahidi, who is now the Iranian Interior Minister, ``as one of
those responsible for the attack on AMIA''; and
Whereas, today, Argentina is home to over 250,000 Jewish people, making it the
largest home to Jews in Latin America and the sixth-largest in the
world: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) condemns the 1994 attack on the Argentine Jewish Mutual
Association Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina,
and honors the victims of this heinous act;
(2) expresses sympathy to the relatives of the victims, who
have waited for 3 decades without justice for the loss of their
loved ones, and may have to wait even longer for justice to be
served;
(3) underscores the concern of the United States regarding
the continuing, 30-year-long delay in the proper resolution of
this case;
(4) calls for the perpetrators of this horrific act,
including Iranian and Hezbollah operatives, to be held
accountable for their crimes;
(5) demands that INTERPOL member countries comply with
arrest orders for individuals responsible for the deadly attack
on the AMIA Jewish Community Center; and
(6) stands in solidarity with the Jewish community of
Argentina and the broader Latin American and Caribbean Jewish
diaspora at a time of surging antisemitism around the world.
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