The presiding judge in the genocide trial of Guatemala’s former dictator, Iris Yassmin Barrios Aguilar has spent her career confronting high-profile corruption, organized crime and drug trafficking, and human rights abuses.

Barrios presides over one of Guatemala's High-Risk Tribunals which convicted Efraín Ríos Montt in May 2013. The trial was the first time a former head of state was prosecuted for genocide in his home country by the national judiciary.

Although the conviction was controversially overturned on procedural grounds, Barrios is widely praised in Guatemala and the international community for her integrity. She provided an important legal precedent for genocide cases worldwide, demonstrating the crucial need for an independent judiciary, and gave a voice to thousands of Ixil-Mayan victims.

As a result of her work, Barrios has faced threats and intimidation, attacks on her and her home, an intensive campaign to discredit her in the media, and a politically-motivated year-long suspension of her judicial authority.

In 2014 she received the State Department’s International Woman of Courage award.