Terror in Buenos Aires

Terror in Buenos Aires : The Islamic Republic’s Forgotten Crime Against Humanity

Farid Hekmat, Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation
July 18, 2009

On July 18, 1994, a van carrying 275 kilograms of explosives rammed into and detonated at the headquarters of the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina ("AMIA") in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The blast demolished the building and surrounding areas, killing 85 people who were inside the building or walking nearby. 151 others were injured. AMIA, a Jewish mutual aid society, was at the heart of Jewish life in Buenos Aires, and the bombing marked the single largest attack on Jewish civilians since 1945. The bombing was not just a terrible act of murder or terrorism; it was a crime against humanity under international law. First utilized against German and Japanese military and political officials at the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials that followed World War II, crimes against humanity has become an essential element of the global fight against human rights atrocities. The concept is particularly valuable in a case which does not rise to the level of genocide or is not conducted in wartime, but whose systematic nature distinguishes it from a random or isolated act of brutality. The AMIA bombing was exactly such a case, with the resources and security apparatus of a powerful state engaged in the methodical killing of dozens of innocent civilians.

The bombing was orchestrated at the highest levels of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The events that led up to the bombing were set in motion at a secret meeting held in August of 1993 in the Iranian city of Mashhad. Present at the gathering were some of the highest officials of the Iranian government, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, President Ali Akbar Rafsanjani, Foreign Minister Ali Velayati, and Intelligence Minister Ali Fallahian. Motivation for the bombing likely stemmed primarily out of a desire to punish Argentina for curtailing its nuclear cooperation with Iran. Additional factors were Argentina's foreign policy turn towards the United States and the sense of impunity that resulted from the Argentine government's muted response to the 1992 Israeli embassy bombing.

Operational responsibility for the attack was divided between the Intelligence Ministry and a special unit of the Revolutionary Guards. Mohsen Rabbani was the Islamic Republic's point man in Argentina. Rabbani first came to Argentina in the early 1980s, using cover as a businessman, and then headed the Iranian-controlled al-Tawhid Mosque. The actual operation was carried out by members of Hezbollah, a Lebanese militia that was partly created and is funded by Iran. On July 1, 1994, three members of Hezbollah arrived at Buenos Aires's Ezeiza International Airport using forged European passports. The team was led by Imad Mugnieh, who before his death in 2006 was considered one of the world's most capable and wanted terrorists. A trail of phone calls traced the team to Foz de Iguazu, a Brazilian city in the Tri-Border Area that has a large population of Middle Eastern immigrants. Situated between Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay, it is a generally lawless region with rampant smuggling and significant ties to terrorist groups. Rabbani acquired a Renault Trafic, with the assistance of two local Argentineans, a captain in the Federal Police who was in charge of the vehicle theft section and a car thief. The Trafic was then loaded with explosives and driven by Ibrahim Berro, a member of Hezbollah who perished in the attack.

The Argentine government's response to the bombing was tepid from the start. A range of political pressures, infighting within the investigative agencies, and a shortage of resources hampered the investigation. Further, the judge assigned to the case had no expertise on terrorism. Rather, he was simply on duty that day. Additionally, evidence was removed from the rubble without forensic analysis, key evidence was mishandled and lost, and key witnesses were ignored for years. The investigation picked up momentum in 1999 after Memoria Activa, a group representing relatives of the victims, pursued a case with the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights accusing the Argentine government of denying justice to the victims' families. The initial investigation finally collapsed in the fall of 2004, with the release of all suspects and the removal of Galleano himself, who was charged with corruption and misconduct. At the heart of the charges were allegations that Galleano had paid off witnesses, including Telledin. Though Iranian officials used this to discredit the entire investigation and proclaim the Islamic Republic innocent, a closer look clearly shows that the payoffs were designed to protect Argentina's intelligence services from scrutiny over its mishandling of the case and other unrelated misdeeds. A new investigation then commenced under the direction of prosecutor Alberto Nisman. Benefiting from greater official support, Nisman's investigation was persuasive enough to convince INTERPOL in 2007 to issue international arrest warrants for six individuals, including Ali Fallahian and Mohsen Rezai, former commander of the Revolutionary Guards. (Nisman also indicted former Iranian president Rafsanjani but was unable to get INTERPOL to issue an arrest warrant for him.)

Often identified as an act of terrorism, the AMIA bombing should also be viewed as a crime against humanity. Though crimes against humanity are usually associated with armed conflicts, they are an essential component of evolving standards of behavior, as recognized by international law. Having originated in the aftermath of World War II, crimes against humanity played an important role in recent ad hoc tribunals for the conflicts in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. Additionally, the treaty governing the International Criminal Court has added substance and form to the doctrine. Under current law, a crime against humanity occurs when there are acts (1) such as murders, rapes, forcible transfers of population, or torture; (2) committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack; (3) directed against a civilian population; and (4) committed with knowledge of the attack. Given the Islamic Republic's record of politically-directed violence against anyone who either challenges or stands in the way of the clerical regime, the AMIA bombing was clearly a crime against humanity. In targeting innocent civilians abroad with mass violence, the leadership of the Islamic Republic has shown that its consistent and utter disregard for international human rights law is not limited to Iran and knows no borders.[1]

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