Baltasar Garzon

Location: Spain

One of the most distinguished judges in the world today, Baltasar Garzon is a leader in the legal fight against human rights violators. In 1996, Garzon investigated and called world attention to the Dirty War, in which the Argentine government murdered more than 13,000 people in the 1970s. In 1998, Garzon issued an order for the detention of Augusto Pinochet, while the former Chilean dictator was in London. Garzon's bold steps in pursuing perpetrators of crimes against humanity have set a groundbreaking legal precedent.