Argentina: Treatment of Jews; availability of state protection (January-December 2000)

The Argentinean Jewish community is the largest in Latin America, with estimates of its size ranging from 200,000 to 250,000 individuals (Annual Report for International Religious Freedom 2000 5 Sept. 2000; Shalom Online 2000; Anti-Semitism Worldwide 1999/2000 2000). According to Shalom Online, a Website providing information on Latin American Jewish communities, the great majority of Argentinean Jews reside in Buenos Aires, Rosario and Córdoba, with smaller populations of roughly 4,000 each in Santa Fe, La Plata, Bahía Blanca, Mendoza and Mar del Plata (2000). In its most recent country report, Anti-Semitism Worldwide 1999/2000 states that

The Jewish community maintains many educational, cultural and religious institutions, including a Hebrew and a Yiddish press, publishing houses and an educational system from kindergarten through university. The leading Jewish organization is DAIA (Delegación de Asociaciones Israelitas Argentinas [Delegation of Israelite Associations of Argentina]), which represents communities and organizations to the authorities and is responsible for safeguarding the rights of members. AMIA (Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina [Israelite Mutual Association of Argentina]) is the main organization representing the Ashkenazi community. The Sephardi communities have separate institutions. The Vaad ha-Kehilot is the umbrella organization of all the communities in the provinces (2000).

According to the Annual Report for International Religious Freedom 2000, the Argentinean

Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the Government respects this right in practice. The Government at all levels generally protects this right in full, and does not tolerate its abuse, either by Government or private actors. The Constitution grants to all residents the right "freely to profess their faith," and also states that aliens enjoy all the civil rights of citizens, including the right "freely to exercise their faith" (5 Sept. 2000).

The report adds that the National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism (Instituto Nacional contra la Discriminación, la Xenofobia y el Racismo, INADI) is the state body which has responsibility for the investigation of

violations of a 1988 law that prohibits discrimination based on "race, religion, nationality, ideology, political opinion, sex, economic position, social class, or physical characteristics," and [for carrying] out educational programs to promote social and cultural pluralism and combat discriminatory attitudes. However, in early 2000, INADI underwent a prolonged process of reorganization, during which its effectiveness was affected seriously (ibid.).

No information on the current status of the INADI could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate. However, in a 4 May 2000 report, the Buenos Aires newspaper La Nación claimed that Raúl Zaffaroni, the Institute's recently appointed auditor, had resolved a dispute with the ministry of the interior over the size of the organization's budget.

In the years following the 1994 bomb attack on the Argentinean Jewish Mutual Association in Buenos Aires, relations between the Jewish community and Argentinean authorities were characterized as "tense" (Anti-Semitism Worldwide 1999/2000 2000). According to Anti-Semitism Worldwide 1999/2000,

It is only recently that the DAIA's vigorous struggle against anti-Semitism has been conducted in close cooperation with the Argentinean authorities. Many of its complaints lead to investigations and some, subsequently, to trials (ibid.).

For example, in June 2000, following an intervention by DAIA, the Judicial Council (Consejo de la Magistratura) ordered three Supreme Court (Cámara de Casación) judges to give an explanation regarding their decision in February 1999 to overturn the verdict of a lower court judge against skinheads who had participated in a 1995 attack on a youth whom they believed to be Jewish (Clarín 7 June 2000; Anti-Semitism Worldwide 1999/2000 2000). In their decision, the three judges had argued that terms such as "Heil Hitler", which the skinheads had shouted while beating the youth, were a "war cry" (grito de guerra) rather than racist slogans (ibid.; Clarín 7 June 2000).

Reports published in 2000 refer to a number of initiatives undertaken by Argentinean authorities to foster good relations with the country's Jewish community and to protect it from attack; examples follow.

In January 2000, President Fernando de la Rúa committed his government to the implementation of a "Holocaust Education Project carried out under the auspices of the International Holocaust Education Task Force" (Annual Report for International Religious Freedom 2000 5 Sept. 2000).

In April 2000, President de la Rúa "announced the creation of a new task force of four independent prosecutors to resolve any remaining questions surrounding the AMIA bombing" (ibid.).

In June 2000, during a visit to the United States, President de la Rúa formally apologized for his country's acceptance of Nazi leaders and collaborators as immigrants at the end of the Second World War (ibid.; La Nación 14 June 2000).

On 13 October 2000, Argentinean Interior Minister Frederico Storani stated that authorities would put into place "extraordinary security measures ... to prevent any flare-ups between Jewish and Arab communities here following the escalating violence in the Middle East" (AFP 13 Oct. 2000). According to AFP, national and international security agencies had earlier warned Storani of "possible terrorist actions" in Argentina (ibid.).

On 16 November 2000, the government announced that it would begin accepting bids on the construction of a national monument dedicated to the memory of Jewish victims of the Holocaust (La Nación 17 Nov. 2000).

According to a number of reports published in 2000, while anti-Semitism remains a problem in Argentina, societal attitudes have improved in comparison with previous years (ibid. 12 July 2000; ibid. 6 Sept. 2000; Anti-Semitism Worldwide 1999/2000 2000). In a public opinion survey released jointly by the AMIA and the New York-based American Jewish Congress in July 2000, 75 per cent of the 1,333 respondents indicated that they would not mind having a Jewish neighbour, 8 per cent stated that they would prefer to have a Jew as a neighbour, while 15 per cent indicated that they would rather not have a Jewish neighbour (AP 11 July 2000; La Nación 12 July 2000). The study also found that 63 per cent of respondents "believe that anti-Semitism is still a serious problem, and 65 percent said the history of the Holocaust should be taught in schools" (AP 12 July 2000).

However, there were some reports of anti-Semitic incidents in 2000; examples follow.

According to the Annual Report for International Religious Freedom 2000,

In February 2000, a Jewish country club in San Miguel received bomb threats. Following an evacuation of the building, it was established that the threats were spurious.

In April 2000, several tombs were vandalized in the Jewish cemetery at Posadas, in Misiones province. Local police subsequently arrested seven adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 in connection with the crime, but the police maintained that the acts of vandalism had no religious connotations (5 Sept. 2000).

On 2 August 2000, DAIA lodged a complaint in Mendoza court against Raúl Moneta, former head of the Bank of Mendoza (Banco Mendoza), after he allegedly made anti-Semitic remarks regarding three journalists during a television interview the previous month (La Nación 2 Aug. 2000; ibid. 3 Aug. 2000). No further information on this incident could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

In September 2000, "at least 18 tombs were desecrated in a Jewish cemetery in the northeastern province of Chaco" (AFP 8 Sept. 2000). According to DAIA officials, the incident, which was being investigated by police, "included the theft of photographs of the deceased and the breaking of headstones" (ibid.). No information on the outcome of the investigation could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

Agence France Presse (AFP). 13 October 2000. "Argentina Orders Extraordinary Security Measures." (NEXIS)

_____. 8 September 2000. "Graves Desecrated in Argentine Jewish Cemetery." (NEXIS)

Annual Report on International Religious Freedom 2000. 5 September 2000. United States Department of State. Washington, DC. [Accessed 1 Dec. 2000]

Anti-Semitism Worldwide 1999/2000. 2000. "Argentina." [Accessed 30 Nov. 2000]

Associated Press (AP). 11 July 2000. Oscar Serrat. "Report: Argentines Know Little about the Holocaust." (NEXIS)

Clarín [Buenos Aires]. 2 August 2000. Roxana Badaloni. "La DAIA denuncia a Moneta." [Accessed 1 Dec. 2000]

_____. 7 June 2000. Pablo Abiad. "Camaristas deberán explicar un fallo que benefició a skinheads." [Accessed 1 Dec. 2000]

La Nación [Buenos Aires]. 17 November 2000. "El monumento nacional por el Holocausto judío." [Accessed 1 Dec. 2000]

_____. 6 September 2000. "Los dirigentes no se sorprendieron." [Accessed 1 Dec. 2000]

_____. 3 August 2000. "Más cargos en contra de Raúl Moneta." [Accessed 1 Dec. 2000]

_____. 2 August 2000. "Denunciaron a Moneta ante la Justicica por discriminación Juez en apuros." [Accessed 1 Dec. 2000]

_____. 12 July 2000. "Una encuesta refleja que el antisemitismo descendió en el país." [Accessed 1 Dec. 2000]

_____. 14 June 2000. "Pedido de perdón a los judíos." [Accessed 1 Dec. 2000]

_____. 4 May 2000. Alejandra Rey. "Inadi: acuerdo para que vuelva a funcionar." [Accessed 1 Dec. 2000]

Shalom Online. 2000. "Argentina." [Accessed 4Dec. 2000]