Judge Iris Yassmin Barrios Aguilar

As the president of one of two of Guatemala’s High Risk Court Tribunals, Yassmin Barrios has made a career of taking on the most difficult and politically-sensitive cases. Such cases have confronted high-profile corruption, organized crime and drug trafficking, and human rights abuses occurring during Guatemala’s 36-year internal armed conflict (1960-1996). Most strikingly, in 2013, Barrios served as the presiding judge in the genocide trial of former Guatemalan dictator Efrain Rios Montt. The trial represented the first time a former head of state was tried for genocide in his home country by the national judiciary. By initiating the judicial process against the former dictator, Barrios gave a voice to thousands of Ixil-Mayan victims, provided an important legal precedent for genocide cases worldwide, and demonstrated the importance of an independent judiciary.