MOSCOW, April 18 (RAPSI)- Apartheid-era lawsuits against Ford Motor Co. and IBM Corp. are kept in place and may be amended by the plaintiffs, a federal judge ruled on Thursday in New York, The Republic reported.

According to The Republic, IBM and Ford face lawsuits accusing these companies of selling computers and cars to South African government when apartheid was still an official policy of the country. By association IBM and Ford are accused of being responsible for rape, torture and murder under a system of apartheid based on racial discrimination against nonwhites.

Plaintiffs were allowed to amend complaints so they would fit with Supreme Court’s legal reach. Vast majority of lawsuits against American companies who have allegedly supported apartheid have been rejected in previous years.