The Inter-American Court of Human Rights hears an “active memory” claim against Argentina for obstruction of justice in the AMIA case.

The session started with the complaints of the family members; The Argentine state agreed without questions; It will continue tomorrow, and then the court will issue an unappealable and final verdict

October 13, 202219:29

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights Discussion of the case started today active memory v. State of Argentina, for Obstruction of justice in investigation of attack on AMIA, with the audience where Two relatives of the deceased About the attack on the building Condemned the discrimination and strongly criticized the actions of justice 28 years since the tragedy.

The case was presented by Active Memory, which it sponsors Center for Legal and Social Research (CELS), following the sentence received by the Argentine state from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, when it acknowledged its responsibility in 2005. Victims condemn “The international responsibility of the Argentine state for the attack on the headquarters of AMIA and the lack of explanations, truth and justice”.

At today’s session, which will continue tomorrow, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR), chaired by Uruguay. Ricardo Perez Manrique, Heard the presentation of the Inter-American Commission and the statements made by them Adriana Reidfeldpresident of Memoria Activa and who lost her sister Noemi in the attack that left 85 dead and 300 wounded, and Diana BasnerWife of the late architect Andres Malamud.

Reisfeld talked about the loss of evidence –“Even the stones of the building were thrown into the river.– and said that through this process a sentence was passed to “teach the duty of the Argentine state”. He noted that already in 2005, when Argentina recognized its international responsibility at the request of the Inter-American Commission and issued Order 812, “there was progress”, but then he said that the country “did not comply with any”. the clauses by which it was committed. “

complained The prosecutor’s office handling the AMIA case is a “ghost prosecutor’s office” that has never subpoenaed them and does not have access to digital case files.. “From the beginning, there was no will to investigate,” he warned.

The judges of the meeting of the Inter-American Court in Montevideo asked with interest, even if they were discriminated against. Reinfeld replied: “If the Argentine state does not ask us, it is discriminatory, they have no shame.”

It is true The representative of Argentina, representing the Ministry of Justice, chose not to ask questions. It seems to agree with the claim of the families of the dead. When the judges asked what he wanted from the court, he replied: “I want the AMIA case to be investigated from scratch, I want justice. If not, what should I say to my grandson when he asks why I don’t know what happened?

For his part, Basner said they were discriminated against when the state said it was an attack on the Jewish community and former president Carlos Menem offered his condolences to Israel. He pointed out that the same thing happened when they said that “innocents and Jews died.” When one of the judges asked him for details, he said he heard it “regularly” on television.

The representative of the State of Argentina chose to ask again.

How is the process?

Tomorrow, the hearing will continue with the declaration of experts and the exposition of the Inter-American Commission. The parties will present closing arguments and the court will have the opportunity to proceed with sentencing.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) considered that the case was referred to the court The state “knew of the existence of a risky situation in identified areas of the Argentine Jewish community” and “did not take reasonable measures to prevent this danger.”. He also alleged that “gross irregularities” were committed by the state authorities leading the investigation, which was deliberately delayed for more than eight years.

The IACHR also found there to be “unreasonable delays” in both the investigation into the attack and the subsequent cover-up.

On July 18, 1994, an attack on the headquarters of the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA) completely collapsed its eight-story building in a neighborhood once traditional to Buenos Aires’ large Jewish community. An Argentine court has ordered the arrest of Iranian officials and former officials responsible for the attack, including the former president. Ali Rafsanjani. There are no arrests in the case.

The attack was followed by two trials: the first resulted in all acquittals and claims that the state was conspiring to find false perpetrators; And the second, for the cover-up, ended with the convictions of the investigation and former government officials.

An organ of the Organization of American States (OAS), the IACHR investigates cases that it submits to the Inter-American Court when it determines that there have been human rights violations that have not been remedied by states. Its decisions are final and appealable.