[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 469 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 469


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 7, 2004

      Received and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
  Condemning the attack on the AMIA Jewish Community Center in Buenos 
Aires, Argentina, in July 1994 and expressing the concern of the United 
States regarding the continuing, decade-long delay in the resolution of 
                               this case.

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 that attack showed the same cowardice and utter disregard for human life 
        as the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001;
Whereas the United States welcomes Argentine President Nestor Kirchner's 
        political will to pursue the investigation of the AMIA bombing, as 
        demonstrated by his executive order opening the archives of Argentina's 
        Secretariat for State Intelligence (SIDE), for raising the AMIA cause to 
        national status, and for emphasizing that there is no statute of 
        limitations on those responsible for this attack;
Whereas it is reported that considerable evidence links the attacks to the 
        terrorist group Hizballah, which is based in Lebanon, supported by 
        Syria, and sponsored by Iran;
Whereas the decade since the bombing has been marked by efforts to minimize the 
        international connection to this terrorist attack;
Whereas in March 2003 an Argentine judge issued arrest warrants for four Iranian 
        government officials who are believed to have been involved in planning 
        or carrying out the attack against AMIA and requested that the 
        International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) apprehend them;
Whereas the four indicted Iranians are Ali Fallahian, a former minister of 
        security and intelligence; Mohsen Rabbani, a former cultural attache at 
        the Iranian Embassy in Buenos Aires; Ali Balesh-Abadi, an Iranian 
        diplomat; and Ali Akbar Parvaresh, a former minister of education;
Whereas Hadi Soleimanpour, Iran's ambassador to Argentina in the 1990's, also 
        has an international arrest warrant pending against him by Argentine 
        authorities for his suspected primary role in the AMIA bombing;
Whereas it is reported that suicide bomber Ibrahim Hussein Berro, a Lebanese 
        citizen, carried out the attack on AMIA;
Whereas it has been reported that contact was made by the Iranian embassy in 
        Buenos Aires to Ibrahim Hussein Berro, who lived in a mosque in 
        Canuelas, Argentina, in the days before the AMIA bombing;
Whereas Argentine officials have acknowledged that there was negligence in the 
        initial phases of the investigation into the 1994 bombing, including the 
        destruction or disappearance of material evidence;
Whereas the first major criminal trial regarding the bombing did not begin until 
        September 2001, and those who are currently on trial are former 
        policemen and civilians who are accused of playing roles only in the 
        procurement and delivery of the vehicle which was used in the bombing 
        attack;
Whereas the judge who had presided since 2001 over the investigation and trial 
        related to the AMIA bombing was removed in December 2003 due to charges 
        that he bribed a key witness in the AMIA case;
Whereas the new trial judge, Rodolfo Canicoba Corral, deals with many other 
        important cases and has few supporting staff;
Whereas on March 17, 1992, terrorists bombed the Embassy of Israel in Buenos 
        Aires, Argentina, killing 29 people and injuring over 200, and the 
        perpetrators of the attack also remain at large;
Whereas the inability to extradite suspected Islamic militants and Iranian 
        officials has debilitated the efforts of the Argentine government to 
        prosecute masterminds and planners of the 1994 AMIA bombing;
Whereas evidence indicates that the Tri-Border area where the borders of 
        Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil meet is suspected of harboring 
        organizations which support terrorism, engage in drug and arms smuggling 
        and an assorted array of other illicit, revenue-raising activities;
Whereas the Government of Argentina supports--

    (1) the 1996 Declaration of Lima to Prevent, Combat and Eliminate 
Terrorism, which refers to terrorism as a ``serious form of organized and 
systematic violence that is intended to generate chaos and fear among the 
population, results in death and destruction, and is a reprehensible 
criminal activity''; and

    (2) the 1998 Commitment of Mar del Plata which calls terrorist acts 
``serious common crimes that erode peaceful and civilized coexistence, 
affect the rule of law and the exercise of democracy, and endanger the 
stability of democratically elected constitutional governments and their 
socioeconomic development of our countries'';

Whereas the Government of Argentina actively supports the development of the 
        ``Three Plus One'' (3+1) Counterterrorism Dialogue with Brazil, 
        Paraguay, and the United States;
Whereas the Government of Argentina was successful in enacting a law on 
        cooperation from defendants in terrorist matters, a law that will be 
        helpful in pursuing full prosecution in this and other terrorist cases; 
        and
Whereas the Second Specialized Conference on Terrorism held in Mar del Plata, 
        Argentina on November 23 and 24, 1998, concluded with the adoption of 
        the Commitment of Mar del Plata, calling for the establishment within 
        the Organization of American States (OAS) of an Inter-American Committee 
        Against Terrorism (CICTE): 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 ten years 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, decade-long delay in the proper resolution of 
        this case;
            (4) strongly 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, including by implementing Argentine 
        President Nestor Kirchner's executive order mandating the 
        opening of the archives of Argentina's Secretariat for State 
        Intelligence (SIDE), and to prosecute with due haste those who 
        are responsible for the bombing;
            (5) calls upon the international community to cooperate 
        fully with the investigation, including by making information, 
        witnesses, and suspects available for review and questioning by 
        the appropriate Argentine authorities;
            (6) 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 this bombing and 
        suspected activities in support of terrorism in the Tri-Border 
        area where the borders of Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil meet;
            (7) encourages the President to direct the United States 
        Representative to the Organization of American States (OAS) 
        to--
                    (A) seek support from OAS member countries for the 
                creation of a special task force of the Inter-American 
                Committee Against Terrorism to assist, as requested by 
                the Government of Argentina, in the investigation of 
                all aspects of the 1994 AMIA terrorist attack; and
                    (B) urge OAS member countries to designate 
                Hizballah as a terrorist organization if they have not 
                already done so;
            (8) stresses the need for international pressure on Iran 
        and Syria to extradite for trial individuals and government 
        officials who are accused of planning or perpetrating the AMIA 
        attack, and to immediately, unconditionally, and permanently 
        cease any and all assistance to terrorists; and
            (9) desires a lasting, warm relationship between the United 
        States and Argentina which is built, in part, on mutual 
        abhorrence of terrorism and commitments to peace, stability, 
        and democracy in the Western Hemisphere.

            Passed the House of Representatives July 22, 2004.

            Attest:

                                                 JEFF TRANDAHL,

                                                                 Clerk.