Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you very much. Good afternoon. Chairman Reid, distinguished members of the Subcommittee on International Human Rights, ladies, and gentlemen, my name is Lilian Tintori. I am delighted to be here today. Leopoldo, my husband, is a politician. I am not. I am here as a wife,

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Yes. There are no protests because we are living the worst repression in the history of Venezuela from February 12 to all this month. We registered more than 3,343 arbitrary detentions. More than 50 cases of torture were registered in organizations like Provea and Foro Penal, but

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  The trial judge closed the court. The tribunal, the court office, was closed for one month. The sad thing was that the door was closed not only for the case of Leopoldo; that judge had 861 cases involving Venezuelan people, families. I was there, I was in the lines. It was amazin

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Yes. We feel in the street and we saw in polls and we saw in the institutions, in the public institutions, that now we are a majority. Everyone wants a change including the collectives, which are groups, armed groups, from the government. They speak on television and say we need

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Yes, a lot. You can't imagine—a lot. First, because we have had nine months with political prisoners in prison, students in prison, and torture inside the prisons. Yesterday, El Gato and Baduel, in the Uribana jail, were tortured. They broke their knees and ribs. It was difficult

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  One is the UN. The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention asked for the immediate release of Leopoldo López. Then the high commissioner asked for the release of Leopoldo López and all political prisoners in Venezuela, as did President Obama of the United States and Prime Minister M

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Well, I think the statement by the high commissioner of the UN is very important around the world because the UN is an institution to protect and promote human rights. This is like the top of our fight. Through this UN statement, a lot of countries can connect and can ask for the

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  This is about humanity and dignity; it's not about politicians. We are fighting for something that we connect with around the world.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I live in fear. I live in fear that when I return from this kind of work and this kind of testimony around the world, they will close the door of the jail and I won't be able to see Leopoldo. I fear that they will punish me. And I fear persecution from the police—always. There is

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Good afternoon, Chairman Levitt, distinguished members of the Subcommittee on International Human Rights, and ladies and gentlemen. Thank you, Irwin Cotler, and thank you, Jared Genser. My name is Lilian Tintori. I am honoured to be able to testify today. As I join you here, a

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Okay. Yes, right now in Venezuela we don't have the rule of law. We don't have autonomous powers. That's why in 2014 Leopoldo López, my husband, asked for an election and protests in the streets to change that to prevent the humanitarian crisis that we have right now. Right now

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Yes. In Venezuela we have five powers. One of the powers is the—

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  This one says no, it is a dictatorship. The moral power is lacking and so Tarek William Saab...and we're waiting for his voice, but his son of 26 years tweeted a video saying, “Father, stop. This is a dictatorship. Do your work. You are a human rights person in the government. Wh

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  That's a very good question. We have been in this fight 18 years, but for our families, for me, I have been fighting for the release of my husband for the last three years. But I try to help the poor people in Venezuela. We started a campaign called Rescue Venezuela. We go around