[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 200 (Thursday, December 7, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7933-S7934]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 354--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING THE 
COURAGEOUS WORK AND LIFE OF ARGENTINIAN PROSECUTOR ALBERTO NISMAN, AND 
CALLING FOR A SWIFT AND TRANSPARENT INVESTIGATION INTO HIS TRAGIC DEATH 
                  IN BUENOS AIRES ON JANUARY 18, 2015

  Mr. RUBIO (for himself and Mr. Menendez) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 354

       Whereas the bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual 
     Association (AMIA) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on July 18, 
     1994, killed 85 people and wounded more than 300;
       Whereas the investigation of the AMIA bombing had been 
     marked by grave judicial misconduct, and the case had reached 
     an impasse in 2004;
       Whereas, in September 2004, Alberto Nisman was appointed as 
     the Special Prosecutor in charge of the 1994 AMIA bombing 
     investigation;
       Whereas, on October 25, 2006, Argentine prosecutors Alberto 
     Nisman and Marcelo Martinez Burgos formally accused the 
     Government of Iran of directing the bombing, and the 
     Hezbollah militia of carrying it out;
       Whereas Ibrahim Hussain Berro, a member of the terrorist 
     group Hezbollah, was identified as the AMIA bomber;
       Whereas Iranian nationals Ali Fallahijan (former Iranian 
     intelligence minster), Mohsen Rabbani (former Iranian 
     cultural attache), Ahmad Reza Asghari (former Iranian 
     diplomat), Ahmad Vahidi (former Iranian defense minister), 
     Ali Akbar Velayati (former Iranian foreign minister), Mohsen 
     Rezaee (former chief commander of the Iranian Islamic 
     Revolutionary Guards Corps), and Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani 
     (former President of Iran) were named as suspects in the 
     bombing;
       Whereas Lebanese national Imad Fayez Moughnieh (former head 
     of Hezbollah's external security) was named as a suspect in 
     the bombing;
       Whereas, in November 2007, Interpol voted to put these 5 
     Iranian and 1 Lebanese suspects in the 1994 AMIA attack on 
     its most wanted list, and reportedly has extended these red 
     notices in July, 2017;
       Whereas, in 2007, Guyanese national Abdul Kadir plotted to 
     blow up John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and 
     was, according to Mr. Nisman, ``the most important Iranian 
     agent'' in Guyana and influenced by Mohsen Rabbani;
       Whereas, in May 2013, prosecutor Alberto Nisman published a 
     500-page indictment accusing Iran of establishing terrorist 
     networks throughout Latin America, including in Argentina, 
     Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, Colombia, Guyana, Trinidad 
     and Tobago, and Suriname, dating back to the 1980s;
       Whereas, according to the Department of State's 2016 Report 
     on Terrorism, Hezbollah, Iran's proxy terrorist organization, 
     continues to maintain an active presence in the Western 
     Hemisphere as well as ``some financial supporters, 
     facilitators and sympathizers'';
       Whereas, in January 2013, the Government of Argentina under 
     then-President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner agreed with 
     Iran in a Memorandum of Understanding to set up a so-called 
     ``truth commission'' to investigate who was ``really'' 
     responsible for the bombing, despite the fact that Iran and 
     its proxy

[[Page S7934]]

     actors were and remain the only suspects in the attack;
       Whereas, in May 2014, an Argentine court found this 
     Memorandum of Understanding to be unconstitutional;
       Whereas prosecutor Alberto Nisman was invited to testify 
     before the United States Congress in February 2013, but was 
     prevented from doing so by the Government of Argentina, who 
     denied him permission to travel to Washington, DC;
       Whereas the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation 
     provided technical assistance and cooperated with Argentina 
     law enforcement officials in the AMIA bombing investigation;
       Whereas, on January 13, 2015, prosecutor Alberto Nisman 
     alleged in a complaint that then-Argentinian President 
     Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and then-Minister of Foreign 
     Relations Hector Timerman conspired to cover up Iranian 
     involvement in the 1994 terrorist bombing, and reportedly 
     agreed to negotiate immunity for Iranian suspects and help 
     get their names removed from the Interpol list;
       Whereas prosecutor Alberto Nisman claimed that he had 
     evidence of a ``sophisticated criminal plan,'' reportedly 
     including wire-taps and phone calls ``between people close to 
     Mrs. Kirchner'' and a number of Iranians, including Mohsen 
     Rabbani, showing a planned exchange of Iranian oil for 
     purchasing rights to Argentine grain to revive Argentina's 
     economy;
       Whereas prosecutor Alberto Nisman was scheduled to present 
     his new findings to the Argentinian Congress on January 19, 
     2015;
       Whereas prosecutor Alberto Nisman was found shot in the 
     head in his apartment in Buenos Aires on January 18, 2015;
       Whereas officials of the Government of Argentina under 
     then-Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner 
     continued to discredit Mr. Nisman after his suspicious death, 
     attempting to ruin his reputation;
       Whereas then-Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de 
     Kirchner created unfounded hypotheses with regard to Mr. 
     Nisman's findings, including conspiracies she suggested were 
     orchestrated by United States hedge funds and other entities 
     she considers ``hostile'' to the President of Argentina;
       Whereas, in May 2015, an Argentine Federal court had 
     dismissed Nisman's findings against Ms. Kirchner and other 
     officials and later the accusations were dropped by Javier De 
     Luca, another Federal prosecutor;
       Whereas that move raised questions in Argentina about the 
     objectivity of Mr. De Luca, given his closeness to a group of 
     Ms. Kirchner's supporters;
       Whereas an independent investigation launched by Alberto 
     Nisman's family released its own report by forensic experts 
     and forensic pathologists showing that Mr. Nisman's death was 
     not an accident or suicide, including claims that ``the 
     prosecutor had been shot in the back of the head'', that ``no 
     gun powder residue was found on his hands'', and that ``Mr. 
     Nisman's body had been moved to the bathroom once he was 
     shot'';
       Whereas, in September 2016, Argentine President Mauricio 
     Macri stated that ``it's hard to believe that Nisman 
     committed suicide. There are too many situations, 
     indications, realities of those hours, those days, that don't 
     match with a suicide.'';
       Whereas, in September 2016, Argentine President Mauricio 
     Macri called for ``a definitive investigation'' into the 
     death of Alberto Nisman, saying: ``I want to generate the 
     conditions, which I think I'm doing, to allow our justice 
     system to freely investigate what really happened.'';
       Whereas, on September 22, 2017, forensic investigators of 
     the Argentine Federal Police submitted a report to a Federal 
     court concluding that slain prosecutor Alberto Nisman did not 
     commit suicide, but rather was drugged, beaten, and fatally 
     shot in the head on January 18, 2015;
       Whereas, on December 7, 2017, former Argentine President 
     Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner was charged with treason for 
     attempting to cover up Iran's role in the 1994 AMIA bombing; 
     and
       Whereas no one yet has been brought to justice for the 
     death of Alberto Nisman, nor have any of the named Iranian 
     suspects for the AMIA bombing faced prosecution: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) offers its sincerest condolences to the family of 
     Argentinian prosecutor Alberto Nisman;
       (2) recognizes Alberto Nisman's courageous work in 
     dedicating his life to the investigation of the bombing of 
     the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) in Buenos 
     Aires, Argentina, which killed 85 people and wounded more 
     than 300;
       (3) applauds Argentine President Mauricio Macri for calling 
     for a swift, transparent, and independent investigation into 
     Alberto Nisman's tragic death;
       (4) recognizes the arduous and technical work of the 
     Argentine National Gendarmerie in reviewing evidence to 
     produce credible, evidence-based findings;
       (5) encourages the public release of the results of the 
     investigation, including the forensic and pathological 
     reports by the government, which would show whether Alberto 
     Nisman took his own life, or if his death is a homicide;
       (6) commends the Government of Argentina for exemplifying 
     the rule of law and the importance of an independent justice 
     system;
       (7) urges the President of the United States to directly 
     offer United States technical assistance to the Government of 
     Argentina in solving the death of Alberto Nisman, as well as 
     the ongoing investigation of the AMIA bombing;
       (8) expresses serious concern about Iran's terrorist 
     networks in Argentina and all of the Western Hemisphere, 
     mindful of the findings of Mr. Nisman's investigation and 
     reports on this matter, and encourages continued 
     investigations of Iranian terrorist networks based on his 
     work;
       (9) urges an independent investigation into the findings of 
     Mr. Nisman regarding the events that led to the memorandum 
     signed between Argentina and Iran;
       (10) likewise expresses serious concerns about attempts by 
     former Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and 
     her government to discredit Mr. Nisman and raise unfounded 
     hypotheses on Mr. Nisman's AMIA findings and the 
     circumstances of Mr. Nisman's death while the work of the 
     courts on this matter still continues; and
       (11) urges the President of the United States to continue 
     to monitor Iran's activities in Latin America and the 
     Caribbean as it is mandated by the Countering Iran in the 
     Western Hemisphere Act of 2012 (Public Law 112-220).

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