The opposition Unified Democratic Panel (MUD) maintained support to all the legislative initiatives provided in the Constitution to fight against corruption. In that sense, the Venezuelan opposition coalition believes that the Enabling Law to be requested by President Nicolás Maduro is "unjustifiable." "We have enough information that makes us believe that the special powers will be used for electoral purposes, to chase the government's political contenders, and to...

The Mexican state of Michoacán was the scene Tuesday of the worst violence to have taken place in a single day in recent months. Authorities said that at least 22 people were killed in different gun battles between police and organized crime gangs throughout the state. Mexico’s National Security Commission reported six attacks against federal police by gang members in different locations. Among the dead are two members of the police force; 15 other officers were seriously...

Reporters Without Borders calls on the authorities to do everything possible to shed light on the murder of Alberto López Bello, a newspaper reporter whose body was found alongside that of a policeman yesterday in Trinidad de Viguera, a town near the southern city of Oaxaca. Both had been shot dead. The two were last seen alive earlier yesterday in a downtown Oaxaca bar. No message was left by their killers. Aged 28, López had been covering crime for the past six years for El...

Reporters Without Borders today submitted recommendations on Chile to the UN Human Rights Council (see document below), which is due to discuss the country during the 18th Universal Periodic Review in January and February 2014, shortly after the November presidential election. This process consists of a review of human rights achievements by UN member countries and, if necessary, a reminder of their responsibilities in this area. Reporters Without Borders calls on Chile to enact new laws to...

In a historic decision, a Guatemalan court convicted former military dictator José Efraín Ríos Montt on 10 May of genocide and crimes against humanity for the massacre, torture, rape and forced displacement of indigenous villagers during counter-insurgency campaigns in the early 1980s. The verdict is unprecedented: never before has a national court found a former head of state guilty of genocide. It sends a powerful message: no one is above the law and everyone - including...

Reporters Without Borders condemns the use of excessive violence by the Buenos Aires metropolitan police against journalists covering a demonstration by hospital employees on 26 April. The organization also deplores the city public security minister’s comments about the violence and calls for appropriate disciplinary measures against all the officials who were responsible. At least 50 people including many journalists were injured when the police fired on the crowd outside...

Unitarian Universalist Minister, Social Action Chair amongst 8 detained, deported, and banned from Mexico for contacts with Mexican Maquiladora workers When Rev. Kate Rohde, interim minister at Wildflower Unitarian Universalist Church proposed an educational trip with her church, little did she suspect that it would end with being surrounded by police, held for seven hours in detention, deported, and banned fromMexico. Eight of the eleven Austin residents who were a part of a trip organized...

The abrupt suspension of the genocide trial of former de facto head of Guatemala, Efraín Ríos Montt, raises serious concerns about victims’ access to justice, Human Rights Watch said today. On April 18, 2013, as the four-week trial was nearing its conclusion, Judge Carol Patricia Flores - who had been suspended from the case in 2011 and then reinstated by a judgment of the Constitutional Court - ruled that all actions taken in the case in her absence were null and void,...

Day 8 of the Rios Montt genocide trial had ended close to 8 pm with document review and challenges. Day 9 began at 8.30 am on Wednesday, with a plea from defense attorney Cesar Calderon for more “normal” court hours, particularly in light of the advanced ages of the defendants and various other commitments. Judge Barrios responded that the tribunal would take into account the petition, and assured that the late ending the previous day was exceptional. Eleven witnesses on the ninth...

The eighth day of the Rios Montt genocide trial began with a nearly full courtroom in anticipation of testimonies of indigenous women subjected to rape by the Guatemalan military between 1982 and 1983; their supporters attended in large numbers. Before the day’s proceedings began, supporters hung banners outside the courthouse and placed photos of women killed during the years of the armed conflict along an altar of dried flowers, with candles and the word “Justicia,” or...