This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

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