In its latest report, , the International Crisis Group examines the trial against General and ex-President José Efraín Ríos Montt and related broader issues of the country's legal system. Never before has a former head of state been prosecuted for genocide in his own country's courts. The outcome of this historic case remains up in the air. Just ten days after the trial court convicted Ríos Montt in May, the Constitutional Court annulled the verdict. A new trial...

The Venezuelan military’s role as perpetrator of violence continues to make news. In a press release put out on August 8, human rights group Provea pointed out that from May to July Venezeula’s armed forces were involved in at least 8 violations of the “the right to life.” In 2012 164 people lost their lives at the hands of the military. Provea’s statistics are taken from Venezuela’s investigative police the CICPC. In a piece of news analysis called...

The human rights map of Mexico shows that although companies face significant risks of association with violations of civil and political rights throughout the country, these risks are particularly high on the country’s borders where conflict between the state and criminal networks is most intense. Former president Felipe Calderon (2006-2012), whose security agenda was mainly focused on combating drug trafficking organisations, failed to improve the protection of civil liberties or...

(Mexico City) - Mexico ’s security forces have participated in widespread enforced disappearances, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Virtually none of the victims have been found or those responsible brought to justice, exacerbating the suffering of families of the disappeared, Human Rights Watch found. The 176-page report, “Mexico’s Disappeared: The Enduring Cost of a Crisis Ignored,” documents nearly 250 “disappearances” during the...

President Raúl Castro Ruz Head of Cuba’s Council of State Chairman of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) Dear President Castro, When you were sworn in as chairman of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) for one year at the end of the recent CELAC summit in the Chilean capital of Santiago, you undertook to act “with total respect for international law, the United Nations charter and the fundamental principles governing...

On first read, it might have been a hoax. On International Human Rights Day last month, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Anthony Wayne, “celebrated” Mexico’s human rights achievements. “The United States recognizes the Mexican government, including officials and institutions,” he wrote in the newspaper El Universal, “for its efforts to promote the defense of human rights in Mexico.” It is hard to imagine a less appropriate time for such undeserved...

This week marks the third anniversary of the Cuba's arrest of USAID subcontractor Alan Gross for the "crime" of delivering internet equipment to a Jewish group in Havana. Working under a U.S. program to support the Cuban people - as opposed to the Cuban regime - Mr. Gross was subsequently sentenced in a Cuban kangaroo court to 15 years in prison for acts "against the state." The ordeal has taken a terrible toll on Mr. Gross. He has reportedly lost more than 100 pounds, may...

Colombia ’s laws on violence against women are not adequately protecting victims displaced by the armed conflict, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. Approximately two million internally displaced women and girls face high rates of rape and domestic violence. Daunting obstacles impede displaced victims’ access to healthcare, justice, and protection services. The 101-page report, documents how recent improvements in Colombia’s laws, policies, and...

Luis David Ortíz Salinas, President of Congress of Nuevo León Juan Carlos Ruiz García, Coordinator of the PAN Edgar Romo García, Coordinator of the PRI Francisco Reynaldo Cienfuegos Martínez, President of the Justice and Public Security Commission José Juan Guajardo Martínez, President of the Social Development and Human Rights Commission Celina del Carmen Hernández Garza, Vice President of the Social Development and Human Rights...

The 42nd General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) took place in Cochabamba, Bolivia on June 4, 2012. Again the coming together of all the nations of the Western Hemisphere was effectively used by the Bolivarian countries to weaken the OAS Democratic Charter and reduce the influence of the United States. As during the Summit of the Americas this past April, Venezuela and its allies in the Bolivarian alliance insisted on the inclusion of Cuba. One after another ALBA country...