While the motives behind the 1/18/15 killing of Argentinian lawyer Alberto Nisman remain unknown, many speculate that it was connected to his criticism of the government. Four days before his death, a 289-page report was released summing up his findings of a 10-year investigation into a 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires. In the report, Nisman found Argentinian president Cristina de Kirchner and foreign minister Héctor Timerman guilty of offering covert support to the perpetrators of the bombing. Furthermore, Nisman had long believed that the Iranian government and Hezbollah were in some way responsible for the bombing, making him popular with right-wing Israeli politicians. His evidence hinged on wiretapped recordings of a conversation between a local union leader and an Iranian official, and he believed that Kirchner’s government was exchanging international support for Iranian oil.
This resolution expressed sympathy with Nisman and called for a transparent investigation into his death. It also expressed ‘serious concern’ about ‘Iran’s terrorist network in Argentina,’ as well as Kirchner’s alleged efforts to discredit Nisman and cast uncertainty over the nature of his death (Kirchner posted a message to Facebook on 1/19/15 implying that Nisman had taken his own life).
1 cosponsor (1R).
Last major action: 5/5/15 referred to Senate Foreign Relations Comm.