Obituaries

Compensation from page B39

Relatives say the system to distribute
the compensation would be subject to
the country's oscillating inflation and
long-term bureaucracy, thus making the
amount uncertain.
The lawyer for the Familiares de las
Victimas group, Paul Warszawski, said the
measure needs to clearly define whether it
is "compensation or a benefit!'
Another problem for the relatives: The
same Justice Ministry that has not brought
anyone to justice in the attack near down-
town Buenos Aires would decide who
qualifies for compensation.
The AMIA bombing, the worst terror-
ist attack in Latin American history, is
currently the focus of an investigation by
Interpol. The Argentine government has
formally accused Iran of orchestrating the
truck bombing. But after years of twists
and turns in the case, no one has been fin-
gered for the attack.
Pedro Guastavino and Sonia Escudero,
senators from the ruling Peronist Party,
called the meeting to discuss the com-
pensation law. Some relatives criticized

the "political timing" to talk about the
measure, just as the anniversary was
approaching.
Laura Ginsberg, whose husband was
killed in the bombing, was especially criti-
cal of the draft.
"Half of the statements in the draft
should be modified, the other half elimi-
nated:' said Ginsberg, who heads a group
of victims' relatives seek-
ing justice in the case.
Ginsberg said other
laws created in the
aftermath of the AMIA
bombing did not
advance the case. They
include one that allowed
those accused of par-
ticipating in terrorist
attacks to show repentance and provide
information.
At the meeting, Andrea Gualde of
the Justice Ministry's Human Rights
Department said discussions of a com-
pensation law resulted from a denuncia-
tion of the Argentine government by the
Memoria Activa relatives' group to the

Inter-American Commission on Human
Rights.
At a March 2005 meeting in Washington
with the human rights commission,
Argentine officials admitted the govern-
ment's responsibility.
Nestor Kirchner, then Argentina's presi-
dent, acknowledged later in Buenos Aires
that indeed the government was respon-
sible for not preventing
the attack or properly
investigating it.
At the June 3 meeting
to discuss the proposed
legislation, relatives
pointed out the lack
of progress in the case
even as Guastavino
stressed the political
will of Kirchner and his successor — his
wife, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner — to
make inroads in the case.
Diana Wassner of Memoria Activa com-
plained that while the government has
talked publicly about finding justice in the
case, there have been no advances. The
opportunity to see the perpetrators of the

Justice was the
goal, but financial
compensation was
crucial as well.

attack in prison "keeps fading away;' she
said at the meeting.
Wassner stressed that justice was the
goal, but that financial compensation was
crucial as well.
Andrea Pochak, the deputy director of
the local nongovernmental organization
Center of Legal and Social Studies, said
the measure would provide an opportu-
nity to compensate those who did not file
suit against the state within two years of
the attack, as proscribed by Argentine law.
The reparation is more than financial,
"but the financial is an issue and relatives
shouldn't be ashamed," said Pochak.
The senators were uncertain how much
money the state would have for AMIA
compensation. Escudero said she under-
stood the desire to allocate the money, but
noted other issues of concern in Argentina
— notably in her hometown province,
Salta, where half the residents are living
below the poverty line.
Several of the victims' relatives objected
to the comparison, saying they were well
aware of the poverty in Salta and else-
where in the country. ❑

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July 10 • 2008