The trial of former de facto head of Guatemala, Efraín Ríos Montt, on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, is a landmark achievement in the fight for justice in Guatemala. Ríos Montt was indicted in January 2012 for genocide and crimes against humanity relating to 15 massacres that resulted in the deaths of 1,771 indigenous Ixil peopleduring his rule from 1982 to 1983. He will be tried in Guatemala City together with his former chief of military intelligence,...

Cuban dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez said in New York that she’s afraid of the reprisals in store for her when she returns to Cuba from an international tour she began last month after five years without being allowed to leave the island. “Afraid of going back? Yes, I’m very afraid of what will happen when I go back,” the blogger told a press conference at New York University, her second appearance in the United States after attending a symposium on Thursday at...

Venezuelan students protested in chains outside the Cuban Embassy in Caracas on Thursday, condemning what they say is the Caribbean nation's meddling in their country's affairs while President Hugo Chavez remains on the island undergoing cancer treatment. Some students exchanged shoves with police in anti-riot gear outside the embassy. Protesters sang the Venezuelan national anthem, wearing chains and cords wrapped around their bodies and bound with locks in a representation of what they view...

"It is unacceptable that an inspection, which should be part of daily operations, leads to so much violence. This clearly shows -one more time- the crisis that the penitentiary system faces. It has definitely reached alarming levels," Amnesty International remarked in a statement. Non-governmental organization International Amnesty has requested the Venezuelan authorities to conduct an independent, objective, and unbiased inquiry into the a violent riot recorded Uribana prison,...

Reporters Without Borders urges the Chilean authorities to conduct a full and rapid investigation into yesterday’s burglary of the Santiago home of Mauricio Weibel, the correspondent of the German news agency DPA and Reporters Without Borders and president of the South American Press Correspondents Union. It was no ordinary burglary. Those who broke into Weibel’s home knew what they wanted and found it - Weibel’s laptop containing the files from his investigation into the...

Human rights defenders across the Americas are facing escalating levels of intimidation, harassment and attacks at the hands of state security forces, paramilitary groups and organized crime, Amnesty International said in a new report today. The report Transforming pain into hope: Human rights defenders in the Americas, is based on around 300 cases of intimidation, harassment, attacks and killings of human rights defenders in more than a dozen countries primarily between January 2010 and...

The growth of organized crime in Mexico and Central America has led to an increase in violence and insecurity, posing challenges to citizens, public security forces, and travelers. Migrants crossing the region are particularly vulnerable, facing increasing threats from Mexican drug traffickers, Central American gangs, and corrupt government officials. Migrants who choose to proceed even in the face of these risks increasingly are forced to seek the assistance of intermediaries known as...

The United Nations (UN) General Assembly passed on Monday Venezuela's inclusion in the UN Commission on Human Rights. Argentina and Brazil, for the Latin America region, were also voted as successors of Cuba, Mexico and Uruguay. In direct and secret voting, and by absolute majority, Venezuela was elected together with 17 countries: Argentina, Brazil, Estonia, Ethiopia, Gabon, Germany, Ireland, Ivory Coast, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea, Montenegro, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, UAE and the...

A Mazahua Indian man was released from a prison in central Mexico after spending five years behind bars for crimes he never committed. Hugo Sanchez Ramirez was freed after the Mexican Supreme Court ruled his due process rights had been violated. "Hugo is young and indigenous. Those are the reasons he was attacked by the justice system," Quetzalcoatl Fontanot, spokesperson for the Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez Human Rights Center, told Efe on Tuesday. Sanchez Ramirez's ordeal began in...

Alfredo Romero, Director of NGO Foro Penal Venezolano, urged Venezuelan reelected President Hugo Chávez to free the 16 political prisoners so as to truly bring about reconciliation or social peace in the country. "Justice is fundamental for every Government that truly believes in reconciliation. For that reason, today, Foro Penal Venezolano, along with some human rights activists, welcomes the statement issued by the president and many ministers who have sustained that a...