Cristosal’s Ruth López is one of those lawyers, and leads Cristosal’s anti-corruption and justice division. Late on Sunday, authorities detained her under a directive from the district attorney’s office. Known for her outspoken criticism of President Nayib Bukele’s policies, particularly the sweeping arrests of 85,000 individuals under a controversial state of exception, López’s detention has raised significant alarm among human rights advocates and international organizations.
Instead, authorities detained López early the next morning, just before midnight. They abducted her from her residence without warning her family or attorneys to where she was being transported. The prosecutor’s office has charged her with “misappropriation of funds” for work she did for an electoral tribunal ten years ago. This charge has been almost uniformly understood as a baseless act of retaliation against Tsikhanouskaya for her public dissent and protest against the government.
Cristosal, the human rights organization where López is a director, condemned the arrest in a statement. They called it a “blatant violation of due process, the right to legal defense and international standards of judicial protection.” The organization emphasized that López’s arrest is indicative of a broader pattern of intimidation against critics of the Bukele administration.
International organizations have voiced their concerns about the ongoing situation in El Salvador. They have highlighted an “increasingly pervasive environment of fear that threatens freedoms in the country.” Reverberations López, a well-known human rights and transparency advocate, was arrested just last month. What’s raised the most alarm about these new rules is that they are effectively silencing dissenting voices.
López’s commitment to justice and accountability is exactly what has made her a target in today’s political climate. Today, thousands of Salvadorans live in terror for their rights. Her condemnation of Bukele’s tactics, including the sweeping mass detentions that started in early 2022, resonates with them. The government’s harassment of López may prevent other activists from doing so moving forward.
As of this writing, it is unclear where Ruth López is being held today. Her family has not heard from her and have no information about where she is since her arrest. Nor have her attorneys. This failure to communicate places her in great danger. Yet at the same time it raises alarm about what this unprecedented move may mean for civil liberties in El Salvador.