[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 385 Introduced in House (IH)]
110th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. CON. RES. 385
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
June 26, 2008
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen (for herself, Mr. Engel, Mr. Burton of Indiana, Mr.
Berman, Mr. Weller of Illinois, Mr. Klein of Florida, Mr. Wexler, Mr.
Fortuno, Mr. Pence, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Wilson
of South Carolina, Mr. Mack, Mr. Rohrabacher, Ms. Watson, Mr. Manzullo,
Mr. Faleomavaega, Mr. Crowley, Mr. Royce, Mr. Bilirakis, Mr. Chabot,
Ms. Wasserman Schultz, and Mr. Cantor) 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 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 Hezbollah, which is based
in Lebanon, supported by Syria, sponsored by Iran, and designated by the
Department of State as a Foreign Terrorist Organization;
Whereas, on October 25, 2006, the State Prosecutor of Argentina, an office
created by the 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 Assembly of Experts and 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, Ahmad 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 unanimously
supported the issuance of Red Notices for Hezbollah operative Imad
Moughnieh and for Iranian officials Ali Fallahijan, Mohsen Rezai, Ahmad
Vahidi, Mohsen Rabbani, and Ahmad Reza Asgari, thereby allowing arrest
warrants for those individuals to be circulated worldwide with an eye to
their arrest and extradition;
Whereas, on November 7, 2007, the General Assembly of INTERPOL upheld the
Executive Committee's decision to support the issuance of six Red
Notices in connection to the AMIA case;
Whereas, on February 12, 2008, Hezbollah operative Imad Moughnieh reportedly was
killed in Syria;
Whereas in June of 2008, the Government of Saudi Arabia hosted an international
Muslim conference that was reportedly attended by Iranian officials Ali
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, against whom an Argentine arrest warrant has
been issued, and Mohsen Rezai, against whom both an Argentine arrest
warrant and INTERPOL Red Notice have been issued;
Whereas the Government of Saudi Arabia reportedly made no attempt to detain or
arrest Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani or Mohsen Rezai during their time in
Saudi Arabia, and the two departed Saudi Arabia without incident;
Whereas, on May 22, 2008, Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman filed a request
with Argentine judge Ariel Lijo for the arrest of Carlos Saul Menem, who
was president of Argentina at the time of the AMIA bombing, and four
other former Argentine high officials in connection with the AMIA case;
Whereas Mr. Nisman claimed in his request for an arrest warrant that Menem and
the other four officials had attempted to cover up the involvement of a
Syrian-Argentine businessman, Alberto Jacinto Kanoore Edul, in the AMIA
bombing;
Whereas Argentine investigators have stated that prior to the AMIA bombing, Mr.
Kanoore Edul was in contact with at least two men who have been
identified as suspects in the AMIA case;
Whereas Mr. Nisman stated in an article published on May 29, 2008, that his
request for arrest warrants against Argentine nationals in the AMIA case
``does absolutely not change the accusations against Hezbollah and Iran
. . . To a certain degree, it reinforces them, because [suspect Alberto
Jacinto] Kanoore Edul has many links with Islamist extremists'';
Whereas during the last two years, the Government of Argentina has made
significant advances in the AMIA investigation and other counter-
terrorism efforts including the enactment, in July 2007, of counter-
terrorism legislation which seeks to criminalize financing, fund-
raising, and money laundering activities of groups linked to terrorism;
Whereas the issuance of an Argentine arrest warrant for an attache of the
Iranian Embassy in Argentina in connection with the AMIA case, indicates
that Iran has used its embassies abroad as tools and extensions of
radical Islamist goals and attacks;
Whereas in recent years, Iran has greatly expanded its diplomatic, political,
and economic presence in the Western Hemisphere, including the opening
of nearly a dozen embassies in Latin America; and
Whereas according to news reports published in June 2008, intelligence agencies
in the United States and Canada have warned of significant evidence that
Hezbollah, with the support of the Government of Iran, plans to launch a
major attack against ``Jewish targets'' outside the Middle East, and
that possible targeted areas include Canada and Latin America: 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 Argentine Jewish Mutual Association (AMIA) Jewish
Community Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, honors the victims
of this attack, and expresses its sympathy to the relatives of
the victims;
(2) applauds the Government of Argentina for increasing the
pace of the AMIA bombing investigation and for enacting
counter-terrorism legislation;
(3) 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 prosecute those responsible;
(4) commends the General Assembly of the International
Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) for upholding and
issuing the Red Notices supported by the Executive Committee of
INTERPOL in March 2007;
(5) expresses grave concern regarding the Government of
Saudi Arabia's failure, when given the opportunity, to detain
Iranian officials against whom Argentine arrest warrants or
INTERPOL Red Notices are pending in connection with the AMIA
case;
(6) urges all nations to cooperate fully with the AMIA
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 persons
against whom Argentine arrest warrants or INTERPOL Red Notices
are pending in connection with the AMIA case, including Iranian
officials and former officials, Hezbollah operatives, and
Islamist militants;
(7) encourages the President to direct United States law
enforcement agencies to provide support and cooperation to the
Government of Argentina, if requested, for the purposes of
deepening and expanding the investigation into the AMIA
bombing; and
(8) urges governments in the Western Hemisphere, who have
not done so already, to draft, adopt, and implement legislation
designating Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, banning
fundraising and recruitment activities, and applying the
harshest penalties on those providing support for activities
involving Hezbollah and other such Islamist terrorist
organizations.
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