Claudia Paz y Paz

Claudia Paz y Paz
Paz y Paz (left) with then-United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Attorney General of Guatemala
In office December 9, 2010 – May 17, 2014
President	Álvaro Colom Otto Pérez Molina
Preceded by	María Encarnación Mejía García de Contreras (Interim)
Succeeded by	Thelma Aldana
Personal details
Born	ca. 1967

Claudia Paz y Paz Bailey (born ca. 1967) is the former Attorney General of Guatemala. She assumed the position in 2010 and was the first woman to hold the position.

Paz y Paz is at the forefront of the fight to bring those responsible for mass human rights abuses to justice. A highly respected criminal law expert and judge with over 18 years of experience, she has made unprecedented strides in the prosecution of organized crime, corruption and human rights violations.^[1]

Career

Paz y Paz has been praised for her aggressive prosecution of organized crime in Guatemala (resulting in a 9% drop in crime) and has subsequently received numerous threats against her life.^[2] She is also noted for her prosecution of human rights abuses, including high-profile cases against former presidentEfraín Ríos Montt and against the perpetrators of the Dos Erres massacre.^[3][4] In her tenure as Attorney General, Paz y Paz has earned a reputation as the most impassioned prosecutor Central America has seen since the war's end in the mid-1990s. She is the first-ever Guatemalan law enforcement official to have brought to justice prominent human rights abusers from Guatemala’s civil war era.

Throughout the remainder of her term, Claudia has set numerous records. More drug traffickers were arrested in the first six months of her term than in the previous decade. Under her leadership, five of Guatemala’s 10 most wanted criminals were caught, and 10 times more cases of violence against women and homicide were resolved than in any previous administration.^[5] "Claudia Paz y Paz has been a savior for Guatemala. We have seen sentences that we thought were never before possible in our country," said Blanca Hernández, a human rights advocate whose son was detained by security forces and never seen by his family again. "Now Rios Montt faces genocide charges. Her work has been incredible.” ^[6]

Paz y Paz is currently an active member of the Justice Leadership Initiative.

International Recognition

In 2012, Forbes named Paz y Paz one of the "five most powerful women changing the world".^[7] In 2013, Paz y Paz was awarded the Judith Lee Stronach Human Rights Award.

Claudia Paz during a press conference in Mexico.

Paz y Paz was also considered to be a leading candidate for the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize.^[8] The prize was ultimately won by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

Paz y Paz is also a recipient of the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) 2014 Human Rights Award, which honors organizations or individuals who have been exemplary in WOLA’s vision of a world where human rights and social justice are the foundation of public policy.^[9]

On December 15, 2011, the International Crisis Group held its "In Pursuit of Peace" Award Dinner. Claudia Paz y Paz was one of four women honored by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for their dedication to promoting peaceful, just and open societies in some of the world's most conflict-affected regions.^[10]

In 2012, the Latin American Studies Association, awarded Claudia Paz y Paz the LASA/Oxfam America Martin Diskin Memorial Lectureship, which honors distinguished individuals who combine rigorous scholarship with a commitment to human rights activism.^[11]

References

1. "Spotlighting Claudia Paz Y Paz." 8 April 2013. Nobel Women's Initiative. Retrieved 16 Oct. 2015. <http://nobelwomensinitiative.org/2015/04/spotlighting-claudia-paz-y-paz-guatemala/>
2. Carrie Kahn (28 March 2013). "Guatemala's First Female Attorney General Takes On Country's Biggest Criminals". National Public Radio. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
3. "Guatemala Attorney General Claudia Paz y Paz". The Center for Justice and Accountability. 2013. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
4. Mark Tran (8 October 2013). "Guatemala: one woman's campaign against violent crime and corruption". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
5. "Claudia Paz y Paz". Vital Voices. 5 November 2013. Retrieved 10 October 2014. Check date values in: |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
6. "Quiet Guatemalan prosecutor takes on dictator, drug gangs". Reuters. 29 May 2012. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
7. Susan McPherson (22 August 2013). "Melanne Verveer: The 5 Most Powerful Women Changing the World in Politics and Public Policy". Forbes. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
8. Mike Allison (9 October 2013). "Can Guatemala's Paz y Paz clinch Nobel Peace Prize?". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
9. "About the 2014 WOLA Human Rights Awards Recipients". Washington Office on Latin America. 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
10. "Guatemala’s First Female Attorney General Claudia Paz y Paz to speak about the challenge of violence and organized crime in post-conflict Guatemala". George Mason University. 5 November 2013. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
11. "Guatemala’s First Female Attorney General Claudia Paz y Paz to speak about the challenge of violence and organized crime in post-conflict Guatemala". George Mason University. 5 November 2013. Retrieved 10 October 2014.