Thelma Aldana

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Thelma Aldana in 2016.

Thelma Aldana or Thelma Esperanza Aldana Hernández de López (born September 27, 1955), is a Guatemalan lawyer. She became a judge in the Supreme Court in 2009. She was elected president of the Supreme Court from 2011 to 2011. In 2013 she replaced Claudia Paz y Paz as Guatemala’s attorney general.[1]

Work[change | change source]

Aldana graduated from the University of San Carlos in Guatemala. She has a Master's degree in Civil and Procedural Law.[2]

Courts for violence against women[change | change source]

In 2011, when she was president of the Supreme Court, Aldana started special courts in Guatemala for femicide cases. Killing women, and violence against women became a crime in Guatemala. Eleven districts now have the special courts. Judges and police officers receive special gender crime training. Every year there are 56,000 reports of violence against women.[3]

Against corruption[change | change source]

In 2015 Aldana led an investigation into government corruption.[4] As a result, the president of Guatemala resigned.[5]

Awards[change | change source]

  • In 2015 Aldana won the Jaime Brunet Prize for the Promotion of Human Rights from the Public University of Navarra. the prize was for her work for women's rights, against gender violence, and for the rights of the indigenous peoples, as well as against political corruption. The prize was for 36,000 euros.[6]
  • In 2016, Aldana received the International Women of Courage Award[7]

Other websites[change | change source]

References[change | change source]

  1. "Guatemala's attorney-general". The Economist. 22 May 2014.
  2. "Licda. Thelma Esperanza Aldana Hernández". Archived from the original on 2016-08-19. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
  3. "Where women are killed by their own families". BBC News. 5 December 2015.
  4. Carlos Dada (4 September 2015). "Corruption Charges Turn Guatemala Upside Down". The New Yorker.
  5. "AQ Top 5 Corruption Busters: Thelma Aldana - Americas Quarterly".
  6. EUROPA PRESS. PAMPLONA (10 December 2015). "UPNA - La fiscal general de Guatemala, Premio Brunet de la UPNA". diariodenavarra.es.
  7. "U.S. State Department honors 14 leaders from around the world". 29 March 2016. Archived from the original on 3 May 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2017.