An Argentine judge has indicted the country’s former President Carlos Menem for allegedly trying to cover up evidence related to the bombing of the AMIA center in Buenos Aires in 1994, in which 85 people were killed. In a written statement, the judge said Menem had covered up what was called at the time "the Syrian connection". The former previously denied any wrongdoing. The judge accused Menem of covering up and destroying evidence, and abusing his authority. His brother,...

Mr. Tom Newman JINSA Dear Mr. Newman, As part of the Argentine efforts to combat terrorism and anti-Semitism, I would like to share with you some paragraphs of the speech delivered by the President of the Republic of Argentina Cristina Fernández de Kirchner to the United Nations General Assembly last Wednesday September 23, 2009. I also emphasize that following direct instruction from the President, the Argentine Delegation left the room along with the US, France, Australia,...

Amnesty International welcomes the release of Mexican prisoner of conscience Jacinta Francisco Marcial, who was held in prison for three years after being falsely accused of kidnapping six federal agents. The mother of six, an Otomí Indigenous woman from Santiago Mexquititlán in the Mexican state of Querétaro, was sentenced to 21 years' imprisonment in December 2006. Amnesty International is calling for a full review into her unfounded prosecution and for her to...

The Jewish cemetery of La Tablada, located on Crovara 2,800, suffered the assault to 58 graves with stolen objects. 8 of them belonging to victims of the AMIA attack, said Julio Schlosser, General secretary of the Israeli Mutual. For its part, the president of Inadi, María José Lubertino, noted that “it is clearly an anti-Semitic aggression” the criminals also stole pictures of victims of the AMIA bombing, “the fact might have some other connotation. Inadi...

The presidents of the main Jewish community centers in Argentina, AMIA and DAIA, replied to the representations of Iranian spokesman Hassan Ghashghavi, who assured that “Argentinean authorities may say whatever they want, but they had been incapable of presenting, in 15 years, a valid or convincing reason for linking Iran with the bombing against AMIA.” Talking to the Jewish News Agency, AJN*, Guillermo Borger, AMIA’s president, demanded Iran “to say everything it has...

Ahmad Vahidi faced no opposition from MPs on the third day of a debate on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s choices for his new cabinet. Interpol has distributed Argentina’s warrant for his arrest for an attack on the AMIA, a Jewish Community Centre that killed 85 people. The lawmakers unanimously backed Vahidi after studying his plan for the enhancement of Iran’s defense capabilities if he is granted the vote of confidence by the parliament. Vahidi highlighted the...

As of 18 August 2009, Amnesty International considers Jacinta Francisco Marcial a prisoner of conscience. This appointment recognizes the innocence of Jacinta while declaring her a person imprisoned only for being an indigenous women with limited access to justice. Thus, the world’s largest movement for the defense and protection of human rights calls on the Mexican authorities to free Jacinta immediately and without conditions. Jacinta, from the Otomi...

Relatives and friends of the victims of the AMIA Jewish community centre levelled in a 1994 terrorist attack yesterday gathered to mark the 15th anniversary of the bombing, which left 85 people dead and more than 300 injured. Cabinet Chief Aníbal Fernández attended the ceremony and pledged to keep working to bring to justice those responsible for the worst terrorist attack in the country’s history. Although the traditional ceremony, which has been held every year since...

The South Florida Jewish community will join together on Monday, July 20 at 7:00 p.m. for a Memorial Service to mark the 15th anniversary of the AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The commemorative service will be held at The Shul, 9540 Collins Avenue, Surfside. The bombing on July 18, 1994 was an attack on the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (Argentine Israelite Mutual Association) building in Buenos Aires, killing 85 people. A powerful bomb made of ammonium nitrate was...

Fifteen years ago today, in the morning hours of 18 July 1994, a powerful explosion rocked the peaceful city of Buenos Aires. A terrorist attack had been launched against the city's Jewish community center, AMIA (Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina). Tragically, 85 people lost their lives in the attack and hundreds more were injured, all victims of international terrorism. The seven-story AMIA building, the central location for Argentina's Jewish communal activities, was totally...