A Guatemalan judge on Monday ordered former dictator Efrain Rios Montt to stand trial on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity stemming from the killing of more than 1,700 villagers of Mayan ancestry. Judge Miguel Angel Galvez announced that Montt, along with one of his former generals Jose Rodriguez Sanchez, must answer for the [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Monday refused to reinstate a lawsuit against the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by investment fraud victims of disgraced financier Bernard Madoff . The investors had sued the SEC under the waiver of sovereign immunity in the Federal Tort Claims Act that allows a [...]

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Tuesday voiced concern over the growing violence and rising death toll in Egypt stemming from ongoing protests throughout the country. At least 50 people have been killed since protesters took to the streets to commemorate the second anniversary of the start of the Egyptian Revolution that [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on Monday reinstated a lawsuit by a Virginia prison inmate seeking gender reassignment surgery. The court ruled that Ophelia Azriel De’lonta, an inmate suffering from gender identity disorder (GID) , has sufficiently stated a claim that the Virginia Department of Correction (VDOC) may have been deliberately [...]

A group of eight senators from both parties released a framework Monday of comprehensive immigration reform legislation that they plan to introduce by March. The framework focuses on four “pillars” that the legislation will include: creating a path to citizenship for current unauthorized immigrants, contingent upon securing the borders; reforming the immigration system to ease [...]

Lawyers for Guantanamo Bay detainee Abu Zubaydah on Monday asked the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to rule on whether Poland violated their client’s rights by aiding the US in detaining and allegedly torturing Zubaydah in a secret CIA prison . Zubaydah, a top al Qaeda suspect, alleges that he was transferred to Poland [...]

UN Special Rapporteur Mutuma Ruteere on Monday urged the Spanish government at every level to increase its focus on addressing the racial intolerance within its borders. Ruteere noted that a successful campaign against racial discrimination and intolerance would only be achieved by “clear and more visible political leadership in combating racism and xenophobia.” The statement [...]

A group of independent UN human rights experts on Friday urged Iran to stop the execution of five Ahwazi activists. UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran Ahmed Shaheed stated that the execution of Mohammad Ali Amouri, Sayed Jaber Alboshoka, Sayed Mokhtar Alboshoka, Hashem Shabain Amouri and [...]

The Philippines House of Representatives and Senate on Monday ratified the bicameral conference committee report on the newly reconciled version of the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013 . The Congress on Thursday approved the bill allocating 10 billion pesos (USD $246 million) for the victims of human rights abuses committed by [...]

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi on Sunday declared a state of emergency in an attempt to quell growing unrest and violent political protest in cities along the Suez Canal including Port Said, Ismailia and Suez. Clashes between Islamic and liberal factions have resulted in hundreds of injuries and at least 50 deaths since last Thursday. The [...]