AMIA BOMBING DEFENDENTS ACQUITTED

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BUENOS AIRES 002540

SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/BSC, WHA/PPC, EB/IFD/OMA, S/CT
NSC FOR TOM SHANNON AND MIKE DEMPSEY
FBI FOR CTD/IRAN-HIZBOLLAH UNIT FOR SSA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/01/2014
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR PREL PTER KJUS AR AMIA
SUBJECT: AMIA BOMBING DEFENDENTS ACQUITTED

REF: A. BUENOS AIRES 1349


B. 03 BUENOS AIRES 4022

Classified By: DCM HUGO LLORENS FOR REASONS 1.5 (B) AND (D)


1. (C) SUMMARY: A three judge panel last night, citing the
prosecution's failure to prove their guilt, acquitted all 22
Argentine defendants charged in the 1994 AMIA Jewish
Community Center terrorist bombing. The panel faulted the
original Judge Juan Jose Galeano and prosecutors and blamed
them, former government officials during the Menem
administration and a congressional commission at the time for
essentially trying to find a scapegoat for the attack and
building a case to find them guilty. The judicial panel
called for investigations into the the handling of the
investigation and the actions of the original Judge Galeano
and others. The verdict was not unexpected and was met with
resignation here, but also anger on the part of many in the
jewish community, including victims' family members and
survivors who charged the government with mishandling the
investigation and prosecution. The court will release its
final verdict on October 29, at which time the full details
of the judgement will be known along with any possible
grounds for appeals. The verdicts issued last night do
nothing to resolve the AMIA case, assign blame, or uncover
the truth. On the contrary, while the GOA and interested
parties will likely continue to seek domestic redress, and
possibly international justice in the UN or OAS, renewed and
reinvigorated attention will certainly be focused on Judge
Galeano and the Menem-era handling of the investigation and
trial and the numerous allegations of cover-up and diversion
of justice. Nevertheless in the long term, attention from
Jewish organizations, the victims' families, and world
attention will also focus on the Kirchner administration's
efforts to achieve some measure of justice in this important
terrorist case. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) Almost three years after beginning the trial, and
ten years after the July 1994 terrorist bombing of the AMIA
Jewish Community Center in downtown Buenos Aires, a
three-judge panel on September 2 acquitted all 22 Argentine
defendants -- including the four Buenos Aires provincial
police and one civilian accused of providing the stolen
vehicle used as the carbomb by the actual perpetrators of the
attack. The investigation and trial has been rife with
irregularities and accusations of mishandling and political
cover-up. The original judge Juan Jose Galeano and two of
the original prosecutors Eamon Mullen and Jose Barbaccia were
recused from the trial (Refs A and B) as a result of an
illegal USD400,000 payment to chop shop owner Carlos Telledin
for his testimony against the provincial police officers.


3. (U) With the recusal of Galeano last December, trial
co-complainants, the Delegation of Jewish Associations (DAIA)
and the Argentine Jewish Mutual Association (AMIA),became
concerned that the trial and investigation under new judge
Rodolfo Canicoba Corral had begun to focus more on the
irregularities of the case rather than the guilt of the
accused. In the Court's findings last night, apart from
acquitting the defendants, the three-judge panel also implied
that certain government officials and the prosecution, under
public pressure to find a guilty party, had "walked away from
the seach for truth" and looked instead for a scapegoat. The
panel called for an investigation of Galeano, Mullen and
Barbaccia, and also former Menem-era Interior Minister Carlos
Corach and Security Chief Hugo Anzorreguy. The panel also
called for an investigation into the actions of a special
bicameral congressional committee created to investigate the
AMIA case. Even DAIA's lead lawyer, Marta Nercellas, was
referred by the panel to the Bar Association for
investigation.


4. (C) The detailed findings of the court will not be
publicized until October 29, at which time options for appeal
by the GOA and/or AMIA, DAIA, "Family and Friends of AMIA
Victims" and "Memoria Activa" will become more clear. In
conversations prior to the September 2 verdict, Acting DAIA
President Jorge Kirzenbaum and DAIA lawyer Nercellas told
PolOff that they would be appealing the expected acquittal of
the five principal defendants. Following the verdicts, a
number of representatives of the various Jewish groups and
interested parties vowed to take the case to various
international fora, e.g. the United Nations and Organization
for American States. The twist here is that they are just as
likely to bring suit against the GOA as they are against the
just-acquited defendants. DAIA and AMIA are both under fire
from their constituencies for being complicit in the
mishandling of the case.


5. (C) COMMENT: While the acquittal decision had been
expected for some time, the court's repudiation of Judge
Galeano's investigation and initial trial, and its
implication of a concerted effort on the part of Galeano,
prosecutors, former GOA officials and others to find a
scapegoat and assign blame, was the surprise. The judges'
decision insures that the AMIA saga becomes even more twisted
and difficult -- if not impossible -- to resolve. Appeal
options will not become clear until the court publishes its
detailed findings on October 29. The "international option,"
apparently exhausted by the GOA (Reftel A),is being raised
again by both the GOA and the co-complainants. Some of the
co-complainants, however, are not talking about bringing suit
in international fora against the just-acquitted defendants
(or the assumed Hizbollah/Iranian authors of the attack),but
rather against the GOA and former officials for the
mismanagement and alledged cover-up in the case, and the
resulting denial of justice and violation of the victims'
human rights.


6. (C) The Kirchner administration gave new life to the
investigation and trial soon after assuming office when it
released classified documents and instructed intelligence
agency (SIDE) officials to testify in the case. Kirchner
administration officials also blamed President Menem and his
senior officials, as well as Judge Galeano, for manipulating
the case to suit its own narrow political ends. Beginning
with this verdict, the Kirchner administration will have to
consider what next steps it will pursue -- not just in the
investigations of the actions of Galeano and Menem officials
-- but also in how it will
attempt to achieve a measure of justice in this case. The
Jewish organizations, families of victims and public opinion
will make sure of that.
GUTIERREZ