In the News
Iton Gadol highlighted B’nai B’rith International’s strong support for the Argentine government’s push to adopt a bill that would enable “Trials in Absentia” 30 years after the AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires, still the deadliest terrorist attack in Latin America’s history.
B’nai B’rith International on Wednesday highlighted the Argentine government’s decision to send to Congress a bill that would allow “trials in absentia” in cases involving crimes against humanity, war crimes or genocide.
This bill, introduced 30 years after the deadliest terrorist attack in Latin American history – the bombing of the AMIA building, which housed numerous Jewish organizations – would require that those accused of planning and carrying out the attack be tried even if they continue to refuse to appear before Argentine courts, since most are being protected by the Iranian regime.
In this way, defendants could appear before the courts to request a thorough review of the sentence, providing them with ample opportunities to defend themselves, thus guaranteeing due process.
On July 18, 1994, a car-bomb exploded in front of the AMIA (Argentine Israelite Mutual Association) Jewish center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, killing 85 people and injuring hundreds.
All evidence points to Iran and its terrorist proxy Hezbollah in the planning and execution of this heinous crime. Despite overwhelming evidence, only secondary actors have been brought to justice.
The organization’s special advisor on Latin American and U.N. Affairs, Adriana Camisar, said: “The defendants in the AMIA case deliberately evaded the Argentine justice system for too many years.”
“We believe that the constitutional guarantees of a democratic state should not be used in such an abusive way as to ensure impunity for the perpetrators of crimes of this magnitude,” added Camisar, who is based in Argentina and has worked on the adoption of this legislative measure for several years.
B’nai B’rith has long advocated for the adoption of the trial in absentia procedure in Argentina as a crucial step toward achieving some measure of justice in the case.
Regarding the proposed legislation, Camisar noted: “A condemnatory ruling in absentia against the accused would facilitate the maintenance of the Interpol arrest warrants against them and would also give greater strength to eventual extradition requests.”
“It is time for the survivors, the relatives of the victims and the people of Argentina to know the truth about who planned and executed this terrible criminal act,” Camisar concluded.