[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 188 Introduced in House (IH)]
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. CON. RES. 188
Condemning the attack on the AMIA Jewish Community Center in Buenos
Aires, Argentina, in July 1994, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 18, 2007
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen (for herself and Mr. Lantos) submitted the following
concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign
Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Condemning the attack on the AMIA Jewish Community Center in Buenos
Aires, Argentina, in July 1994, and for other purposes.
Whereas on July 18, 1994, 85 innocent people were killed and 300 were wounded
when the Argentine Jewish Mutual Association (AMIA) was bombed in Buenos
Aires, Argentina;
Whereas extensive evidence links the planning of the attacks to the Government
of Iran, and the execution of the attacks to the terrorist group
Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon, supported by Syria, and sponsored
by Iran;
Whereas on October 25, 2006, the State Prosecutor of Argentina, an office
created by the current Government of Argentina, concluded that the AMIA
bombing was ``decided and organized by the highest leaders of the former
government of ... Iran, whom, at the same time, entrusted its execution
to the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah'';
Whereas on October 25, 2006, the State Prosecutor of Argentina concluded that
the AMIA bombing had been approved in advance by Iran's Supreme Leader
Ali Khamene'i, Iran's then-leader Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Iran's
then-Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati, and Iran's then-Minister of
Security and Intelligence Ali Fallahijan;
Whereas on October 25, 2006, the State Prosecutor of Argentina stated that the
Government of Iran uses ``terrorism as a mechanism of its foreign
policy'' in support of ``its final aim [which] is to export its
radicalized vision of Islam and to eliminate the enemies of the
regime'';
Whereas on October 25, 2006, the State Prosecutor of Argentina identified
Ibrahim Hussein Berro, a Lebanese citizen and member of Hezbollah, as
the suicide bomber who primarily carried out the attack on the AMIA;
Whereas on November 9, 2006, Argentine Judge Rodolfo Canicoba Corral, pursuant
to the request of the State Prosecutor of Argentina, issued an arrest
warrant for Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former leader of Iran and
the current chairman of Iran's Expediency Council, for his involvement
in the AMIA bombing and urged the International Criminal Police
Organization (INTERPOL) to issue an international arrest warrant for
Rafsanjani and detain him;
Whereas on November 9, 2006, Argentine Judge Rodolfo Canicoba Corral, pursuant
to the request of the State Prosecutor of Argentina, also issued arrest
warrants for Ali Fallahijan, a former Iranian Minister of Security and
Intelligence, Ali Akbar Velayati, a former Iranian Foreign Minister,
Mohsen Rezai, a former commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards
Corps (IRGC), Ahmad Vahidi, a former commander of the elite Al-Quds
Force of the IRGC, Hadi Soleimanpour, a former Iranian ambassador to
Argentina, Mohsen Rabbani, a former cultural attache at the Iranian
Embassy in Buenos Aires, Ahmed Reza Asghari, a former official at the
Iranian Embassy in Buenos Aires, and Imad Moughnieh, a leading
operations chief of Hezbollah;
Whereas on March 5, 2007, the Executive Committee of INTERPOL supported the
issuance of arrest warrants, also known as capture notices for Hezbollah
operative Imad Moughnieh and five Iranian officials noted above for whom
Argentine Judge Rodolfo Canicoba Corral issued arrest warrants;
Whereas Iran has appealed the INTERPOL Executive Committee's decision, and the
General Assembly of INTERPOL will issue a final ruling on the arrest
warrants when it meets in Morocco in November 2007;
Whereas the inability to reach suspected Islamist militants and Iranian
officials has debilitated the efforts of the Government of Argentina to
prosecute masterminds and planners of the 1994 AMIA bombing;
Whereas the current Government of Argentina has made significant advances in the
AMIA investigation; and
Whereas Argentina recently approved anti-terrorist legislation which seeks to
criminalize financing, fund-raising, and money laundering activities of
groups linked to terrorism: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),
That Congress--
(1) reiterates its strongest condemnation of the 1994
attack on the AMIA Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires,
Argentina, and honors the victims of this heinous act;
(2) expresses its sympathy to the relatives of the victims,
who have waited 13 years without justice for the loss of their
loved ones, and may have to wait even longer for justice to be
served;
(3) applauds the current Government of Argentina for
increasing the pace of the AMIA bombing investigation, as well
as on its recently approved anti-terrorism legislation;
(4) urges the Government of Argentina to continue to
dedicate and provide the resources necessary for its judicial
system and intelligence agencies to investigate all areas of
the AMIA case and to bring those responsible to justice;
(5) calls upon the General Assembly of INTERPOL to uphold,
issue and implement the international arrest warrants supported
by the Executive Committee of INTERPOL in March 2007; and
(6) calls upon responsible nations to cooperate fully with
the investigation, including by making information, witnesses,
and suspects available for review and questioning by the
appropriate Argentine authorities, and by detaining and
extraditing to Argentina, if given the opportunity, any of the
Iranian officials and former officials, Hezbollah operatives,
and Islamist militants against whom Argentine or international
arrest warrants are pending in connection with the AMIA case.
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