A/HRC/45/CRP.11 395. In the early morning of 30 April 2019, Juan Guaidó – the leader of the Venezuelan National Assembly, who declared himself interim president in January 2019 – called supporters to take the streets against President Maduro’s Government, as shown in a video posted on social media.888 396. Mr. López stood alongside Guaidó and deserting soldiers, having been freed by officers loyal to Guaidó. On 1 May 2019, Mr. López took refuge in the Spanish Embassy in Caracas, where he remained at the time of writing.889 397. On 2 May 2019, the Fifth Tribunal of Execution in Caracas revoked Mr. López’s house arrest and ordered SEBIN to arrest him.890 At the time of writing, SEBIN officers were stationed outside the Spanish Embassy.891 Detention 398. For most of the almost 41 months he spent in detention in Ramo Verde, Mr. López was the only inmate in the tower where he was held. He was subjected to around-the-clock surveillance and stripped naked several times a day, each time he left his cell. His defence team presented a number of complaints both to the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Ministry of Defence about the human rights violations allegedly suffered by Mr. López in detention. 399. These allegations included, inter alia: incommunicado detention; long periods of isolation; continued psychological harassment and intimidation by prison officers; violent night searches; violation of the right to defence; violation of the right to receive visits; and seizure of personal belongings.892 On at least one occasion, prison officers allegedly threw excrement and urine into Mr. López’s cell.893 None of these complaints were acted upon by the different authorities.894 400. Mr. López’s wife and mother were also stripped naked each time they visited him, including in front of their children, who had also their clothes removed. On 12 October 2015, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights issued precautionary measures No. 33514 in favour of Mr. López’s relatives in relation to this issue. On 30 November 2015, the Fifty-Second Court of Control issued precautionary measures in favour of Mr. López’s wife, Lilian Tintori, and their children. 401. Ms. Tintori told the Mission that when she visited Mr. López, female officers would tell her to jump naked, bend on her knees and open her legs so they could inspect her intimate parts. On one occasion, the female officers removed her sanitary pad. 895 Weekly conjugal visits took place in a room with a hidden camera. Mr. López’s lawyers filed a complaint before the Public Prosecutor’s Office on 18 January 2016. 402. On 21 January 2016, the Eighty-Second Public Prosecutor’s Office with competence on women rights granted protection measures896 to Lilian Tintori and Antonieta Mendoza De López, Mr. López’s mother, prohibiting the Ramo Verde Director from approaching or harassing the women, pursuant to article 90 of the Organic Law on the Rights of Women to a Life free from Violence.897 403. On 25 April 2016, Mr. Juan Carlos Gutiérrez, Leopoldo López’s lawyer, also filed a formal complaint before the Public Prosecutor’s Office stating he was a victim of several 888 889 890 891 892 893 894 895 896 897 YouTube Video, El Pais, Leopoldo López es Liberado y Guaidó comparece junto a él en Venezuela, 30 April 2019, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmvuoGr5grU YouTube Video, NTN24, Leopoldo López: “Yo espero que sean semanas para el cese de la usurpación”, 2 May 2019, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=347WSORbaHA YouTube Video, Agencia EFE, Tribunal de Venezuela ordena capturar al opositor Leopoldo López, 2 May 2019, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qhGtX9mn5Y Mission interview with Juan Carlos Gutierrez, Leopoldo López’s lawyer in July 2020. List of complaints filed by Mr. López’s defence team on file with the Mission. Mission interview with Juan Carlos Gutiérrez, Leopoldo López’s lawyer on 3 July 2020. Ibid. Mission interview with Lilian Tintori in June 2020. Document on file with the Mission. Official Gazette of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, No. 38.668, 23 April 2007. 101

Select target paragraph3

Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents