Claudia Paz y Paz

Jack Rendler, Chair of the Board of Directors of World Without Genocide, presented the Outstanding Upstander Award to Ms. Claudia Paz y Paz

On May 16, 2016, World Without Genocide held its annual gala called “A World of Upstanders: Women Taking A Stand Against Genocide” at The Woman’s Club of Minneapolis.

This year we welcomed Claudia Paz y Paz as the honored guest and speaker.

Claudia Paz y Paz served as Attorney General of Guatemala from 2010 to 2014 and was the first woman to hold the position. She is noted for her prosecution of human rights abuses, including high-profile cases against former Guatemalan president Efrain Rios Montt and against the perpetrators of the brutal Dos Erres massacre. She is the first-ever Guatemalan law enforcement official to have brought to justice prominent human rights abusers from Guatemala’s civil war era. Paz y Paz aggressively prosecuted organized crime. More drug traffickers were arrested in the first six months of her term than in the previous decade. Ten times more cases of violence against women and homicides were resolved than in any previous administration. Paz y Paz is currently a member of the Justice Leadership Initiative.

World Without Genocide at Mitchell Hamline School of Law promotes education and action to protect innocent people, prevent genocide, prosecute perpetrators, and remember those affected by genocide.