Iris Yassmin Barrios Aguilar
Iris Yassmin Barrios Aguilar is a judge.[1][2] She was the president of one of Guatemala’s two High Risk Court Tribunals.[2] A High Risk Court Tribunal is a kind of court that has authority in difficult cases. The cases are likely to cause people to become upset because they are related to politics or government.[3]
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In 2014, Barrios received an International Women of Courage Award from the United States Department of State.[4][5]
Barrios was in charge of the trial of Efraín Ríos Montt, who ruled Guatemala with total authority.[2] This trial was the first time a national court tried a former leader of a country for genocide.[6][7] That trial decided that Montt was responsible for committing the crime of genocide against Ixil Mayans. The trial finished in 2013.[8]
However, on May 20th, 2013, the Constitutional Court of Guatemala decided that the decision was wrong and changed the decision. It ordered the trial to start again, because of a disagreement over the judges. Officials said that Ríos Montt's trial will start again in January 2015.[9][1]In April 2014, Barrios' authority as a judge was suspended for a year. This was because of a complaint against her by a lawyer who had a part in the trial of Efrain Rios Montt.[3]
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