Claudia Paz y Paz

Claudia Paz y Paz
Attorney General of Guatemala
In office December 9, 2010 – May 17, 2014
President	Álvaro Colom Otto Pérez Molina
Preceded by	María Mejía García (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.

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. 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. 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. "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.”

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

Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA)

Dr. Claudia Paz y Paz Bailey is a Senior Fellow at WOLA. She is a criminal law specialist, scholar, judge and litigator who has worked for over 18 years to strengthen the justice system in Guatemala. 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.

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