Iris Yassmin Barrios Aguilar
Iris Yassmin Barrios Aguilar is a judge and the president of one of Guatemala’s two High Risk Court Tribunals.[1] She was the presiding judge in the case of Efrain Rios Montt, a former dictator of Guatemala.[1] In that trial Montt was found guilty of the genocide of indigenous Ixil Mayans; the verdict came in 2013.[2] The trial was the first time a national judiciary tried a former head of state for genocide in his home country.[1] However, on May 20, 2013, the Constitutional Court of Guatemala overturned the conviction, voiding all proceedings back to April 19 and ordering that the trial be "reset" to that point, pending a dispute over the recusal of judges. Officials have said that Ríos Montt's trial will resume in January 2015.[3]
Barrios received a 2014 International Women of Courage award.[4][5]
As of April 2014 her judicial authority was suspended for a year due to a complaint against her by a lawyer who was involved in the trial of Efrain Rios Montt.[6]
References
- ^ a b c "Bios of 2014 Award Winners". state.gov.
- ^ Mariano Castillo, CNN (10 May 2013). "Guatemala's Rios Montt guilty of genocide". CNN.
{{cite web}}:|author=has generic name (help) - ^ "Guatemala Rios Montt genocide trial to resume in 2015". BBC News. 6 November 2013. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
- ^ "US Honors International Women of Courage". VOA.
- ^ "FITE Celebrates 2014 Women of Courage, Honored by First Lady". JoinFITE – by Dermalogica.
- ^ http://www.awiu.org/2014/04/23/introducing-judge-iris-yassmin-barrios-aguilar-of-guatemala-a-2014-international-woman-of-courage/