Authorities in El Salvador have arrested a human rights lawyer and critic of President Nayib Bukele‘s government.
Newsweek has contacted El Salvador’s Attorney General’s office for comment.
Why It Matters
The detention of Ruth Eleonora López, a prominent human rights lawyer and government critic, raises serious concerns about the use of state power to target dissent in El Salvador. Her arrest comes amid an increasingly authoritarian climate under President Nayib Bukele, where civil liberties have been curtailed under a prolonged state of emergency.
Alex Brandon/AP
What To Know
López, who leads the Anti-Corruption and Justice Unit at the human rights organization Cristosal, has been accused of involvement in the “theft of funds from state coffers,” according to the Attorney General’s Office of El Salvador.
Cristosal has provided help to families of Salvadorans imprisoned as part of Bukele’s crackdown on gangs as well as more to than 250 Venezuelans who were deported from the U.S.
The Attorney General’s Office of El Salvador confirmed the arrest in a statement, describing it as “administrative detention” and linking it to Ruth Eleonora López’s past role as a close associate of former magistrate and government official Eugenio Chicas.
Chicas, who previously led El Salvador’s supreme electoral tribunal and served as press secretary under former President Salvador Sánchez Cerén, was arrested in February on allegations of illicit enrichment, according to The New York Times.
“Ruth López collaborated in the theft of funds from state coffers,” the Attorney General’s Office said in its post on X.
“According to the investigations and information gathered during the raids carried out … her active participation in the acts of which she is accused has been identified,” the Attorney General’s Office said.
López has been a prominent opponent of the Bukele administration’s approach to transparency. She has namely questioned alleged human rights violations during the ongoing state of emergency aimed at curbing crime. She
In 2024, the BBC included López on its list of 100 influential and inspiring women. From 2009 to 2014, she served as an adviser to Eugenio Chicas, the former president of El Salvador’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal.
López’s arrest sparked immediate outrage both within El Salvador and internationally, drawing backlash from human rights organizations.
“El Salvador’s state of exception has not only been used to address gang-related violence but also as a tool to silence critical voices,” the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) said in a statement.
El Salvador has remained under a state of emergency since March 2022, initially declared due to gang-related violence.
Under the measure, President Bukele’s government suspended key civil liberties, such as the right to legal counsel, and security forces have detained over 83,000 individuals, often without due process, according to human rights groups.
Bukele struck a deal with President Donald Trump‘s administration, which involves the federal government paying El Salvador millions of dollars to detain deported immigrants in the maximum-security facility known as CECOT, or the Terrorism Confinement Center.
What People Are Saying
WOLA said in a statement: “Authoritarianism has increased in recent years as President Nayib Bukele has undermined institutions and the rule of law, and persecuted civil society organizations and independent journalists. Our organizations have been closely monitoring the closing of civic space and attacks on independent press in El Salvador and are deeply concerned at the increasingly pervasive environment of fear that threatens freedoms in the country.
“We call on Salvadoran authorities to immediately release Ruth López and urge the Salvadoran government to guarantee her physical safety and due process rights. We also urge U.S. policymakers and the diplomatic community at large to urge President Bukele to cease all attacks against human rights defenders.”
El Salvador’s Attorney General’s Office said on a post on X: The administrative detention order against Ruth Eleonora López Alfaro for the crime of embezzlement was made effective.
“This sends a message that the government is willing to repress, to violate human rights – and at this point, it’s barely trying to hide it. It’s practically admitting it.”
Abraham Ábrego, director of Strategic Litigation at Cristosal, said: “This sends a message that the government is willing to repress, to violate human rights – and at this point, it’s barely trying to hide it. It’s practically admitting it.”
What Happens Next
López could face legal proceedings related to the accusations made by the Attorney General’s Office.
