The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR Court) condemned this Friday (06/14/2024) the Argentine State for its responsibility and lack of investigation in the terrorist attack perpetrated against the headquarters of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) on July 18, 1994 in Buenos Aires, which caused 85 deaths and serious injuries to 151 people.
“Argentina (is) responsible for not having adopted reasonable measures to prevent the attack” and “not having fulfilled its duty to investigate with due diligence and within a reasonable period of time the attack and its cover-up,” the ruling of the Inter-American Court stated. , based in San José. The president of the Court, Nancy Hernández, notified the parties of the ruling and explained that during the process Argentina recognized its full responsibility in this case.
“The State was aware of a situation of real and immediate risk regarding the sites identified with the Jewish community and did not adopt reasonable measures to avoid said risk,” states the ruling, which establishes that the State is responsible for violations of the rights to life, personal integrity, the principle of equality and non-discrimination, access to justice and judicial guarantees, access to information, the right to know the truth, and the psychological and moral integrity of the victims and their families. .
Reopen investigations
On July 18, 1994, a van bomb blew up the AMIA headquarters building. The attack remains unpunished to this day. “Almost 30 years later, there is still no clarity about what happened, those responsible, or the reasons why the State used its judicial apparatus to cover up and hinder the investigation,” the ruling adds. Argentina has accused former Iranian leaders of the attack, but has never managed to put them in the dock. It is also suspected that they had a powerful local connection, which has not yet been identified.
“The State committed a serious failure in its duty to investigate one of the largest terrorist attacks in the history of the region. These failures to due diligence implied, on the one hand, poor handling of the evidentiary material and the scene of the event and , on the other hand, a deficient conduct of the development of the investigation”, explains the ruling.
The inter-American judges ordered the State “to remove all obstacles that maintain total impunity in this case and initiate, continue, promote or reopen the investigations that are necessary.” Argentina must also carry out a public act of recognition of responsibility, make an audiovisual documentary on the facts of the case and create a historical archive accessible to the entire public on the facts of the attack, the investigation, its cover-up and the role of victims’ associations. .
DZC (EFE, AFP)
