A UN rights committee said Thursday it will study a petition filed by Brazil's embattled former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva claiming the country's courts violated his rights over a huge corruption scandal. 

"I can confirm that the UN Human Rights Committee has formally registered a petition submitted by the former president of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva," said Elizabeth Throssell, a spokeswoman at the United Nations human rights office. 

She added that the committee "will begin its consideration of the complaint's admissibility," once it has received a formal reply from Brazil, where Lula faces three corruption-related court cases over a scandal linked to state oil giant Petrobras.