Wiesenthal Centre to INTERPOL: Issue Warrants for Arrest on Sight of Iranians Implicated in AMIA Argentine Jewish Centre Bombing
September 26, 2006
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CENTRE SIMON WIESENTHAL Wiesenthal Centre to INTERPOL: “Issue Warrants for Arrest on Sight of Iranians Implicated in AMIA Argentine Jewish Centre Bombing” Paris, 27 September 2007 In a letter to the Lyon-based INTERPOL Secretary-General, Ronald K. Noble, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre's Director for International Relations, Dr Shimon Samuels, recalled their meeting at a Counter-Terrorism session of the World Economic Forum in Davos. "We briefly discussed the significance of INTERPOL 'Red Notices' (international arrest warrants) in the efforts of the late Simon Wiesenthal to bring Nazi war criminals to justice." Samuels explained that "the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, in its pursuit of justice in the case of contemporary mass murderers, once again seeks the support of INTERPOL." The letter noted that, "in October 2006, Argentine Chef Prosecutor, Alberto Nisman, indicted eight public figures in Iran for the bombing of the AMIA Jewish Welfare building in Buenos Aires, resulting in 85 murdered and more than 150 wounded: Samuels continued, "These nine names were submitted to INTERPOL as an Argentine arrest warrant in November 2006. On 15 March 2007, INTERPOL's Executive Committee approved the issue of 'Red Notices' to six of those implicated in the bombing, thus granting impunity to President Rafsanjani, Foreign Minister Velayati and Ambassador Soleimanpour. Argentine President Nestor Kirchner, in his address this week to the United Nations General Assembly, appealed to Tehran for cooperation in bringing justice to this case." The Centre, nevertheless, expressed concern that "apparently, the issuing of the 'Red Notices' for the remaining six accused - already approved by the Executive Committee in March - is now to be determined by a majority vote of the 186 member states attending the 76th INTERPOL General Assembly on 5-8 November in Marrakech, Morocco." "This procedure", contended the Centre, "after a delay of one year since the original Argentine arrest request, would have INTERPOL exceed its police functions, when its arrest responsibilities are turned into a political debate at its General Assembly." The letter noted that, "according to the section on 'Governance' on the INTERPOL website: 'The General Assembly (...) takes all the major decisions affecting general policy, the resources needed for international co-operation, working methods, finances and programmes of activities...'", adding, " Indeed, it is also noted on your website that 'red notices are issued on the basis of an arrest warrant from a member-state.' Hardly an agenda item under the General Assembly's constitutional procedures. Samuels stressed that "both Argentina and Iran are member-states of INTERPOL; the 'Red Notices' should have been issued long ago, according to the normal procedure." He suggested that, "had Simon Wiesenthal been treated in this fashion, few of the 1,100 Nazi war criminals that he exposed would have met justice," The letter called the AMIA bombing "the worst antisemitic atrocity since the Holocaust", protesting that "if its perpetrators are granted impunity by the General Assembly of INTERPOL, that day will mark the 9/11 of global law enforcement and its criminal investigation system." "Mr Secretary General, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre counts on you to ensure that INTERPOL does its duty in calling upon its affiliates in all its member-states - including Iran - to arrest the AMIA perpetrators on sight,"
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