Latin America

The AMIA/DAIA Bombing: Terror in Argentina

On July 18, 1994, a suicide terrorist drove a car filled with hundreds of kilograms of explosives into the Jewish community’s AMIA/DAIA building in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Eighty-five people were killed and hundreds were injured.

The now infamous AMIA/DAIA bombings represent the deadliest terrorist attack in Argentina, home to the largest Jewish community in Latin America.

Due to the complexity of the case and the dynamics of the investigation, the AMIA/DAIA bombing investigation can be divided into three main areas: 1) Local Connection; 2) International Connection; and 3) Irregularities of the Case.

Local Connection

The Local Connection Case is the name the media gave to the investigation of Argentinean citizens who allegedly assisted in the logistics necessary to complete the attack.  As a result of a first trial, five people were accused, but ultimately acquitted, of being facilitators in the attack. They were: Carlos Alberto Telleldín, Juan José Ribelli, Anastasio Leal, Raúl Ibarra and Mario Barreiro.

Additionally, the president at the time of the bombing, Carlos Menem, was investigated for the way he handled the investigation. In March 2012, Menem was ordered to stand trial for obstruction of justice for potentially destroying evidence that would have incriminated him.

International Connection

Since it began, the investigation has had a de facto separation between the national and international responsibility. Thus, the international aspect of the investigation continued to be examined even after the Local Connection Case was being tried in a prosecution unit, specially created for the investigation of the attack.

Shortly after the attack, the Argentinean Intelligence Service recognized that responsibility for the attack extended beyond Argentina’s borders. After further investigation the AIS issued a comprehensive report on the international aspects of the attack which draws the following conclusions:

• Iranian officials were accused of participating in the attack. The Iranian Intelligence Minister at the time, Ali Fallahian, was responsible for its implementation.
• Iranian Intelligence charged Hezbollah with mounting the attack.
• Hezbollah's operational unit abroad, led by Imad Mughniya, perpetrated the attack.

As a result, in October 2006 the prosecution unit issued a legal opinion analyzing the case evidence collected in the summary and requested international assistance in apprehending and extraditing eight Iranians, including the president of Iran at the time of the attack.

In November 2006, Judge Canicoba Corral declared the attack against the AMIA/DAIA building a crime against humanity, issued the national and international arrest orders requested by the Prosecution and issued a formal request to Interpol for a Red Notice.

In June 2011, despite the Interpol Red Notice, the Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi visited Bolivia to participate in the inauguration of a military school. Argentinian authorities reacted immediately, notifying Bolivian officials that they had wanted to arrest him due to his involvement in the AMIA bombing. Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca wrote a letter to Argentinian Foreign Minister Hector Timmerman apologizing but Vahidi left the country without an arrest.

Irregularities of the investigation

Currently, the Federal Criminal Court, headed by Judge Ariel Lijo, is investigating the irregularities committed during the investigation carried out by former Judge Juan José Galeano.

The investigation focuses on a mishandled payment of $400,000 to an informant, Carlos Alberto Telleldín. Authorities became aware of the payment process after the payment was made.

During 2006, investigating Judge Lijo subpoenaed former Judge Galeano, former prosecutors, Telleldín and his lawyer, the president of DAIA at the time of attack, and others. Subsequently, and with different degrees of responsibility, he indicted most of them, a decision which is currently under appeal.

Source: Centro de Estudios Sociales, DAIA Informe sobre Antisemitismo en la Argentina 2005-2006-2007.

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