MEXICO CITY — Leading human rights activist, Ruth López, has been arrested in El Salvador, after the Attorney General’s office accused her of embezzlement of state funds.
López leads the anti-corruption and justice program for the human rights organization Cristosal.
She and her organization have documented human rights abuses in El Salvador — including inhumane conditions in jails and the extended state of emergency, during which the government has suspended many constitutional rights and imprisoned tens of thousands of suspected gang members without following due process.
The human rights organization say her whereabouts remain unknown and denounced her arrest as “short-term enforced disappearance”.
President Bukele accused non-profit organizations of encouraging the protests.
MEXICO CITY — El Salvador’s Attorney General’s office accused prominent human rights advocate Ruth López of embezzling public funds, leading to her arrest. López is in charge of Cristosal’s anti-corruption and justice initiative.
President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador has been openly criticized by López. Inhumane jail conditions and the prolonged state of emergency, in which the government has suspended numerous constitutional rights and imprisoned tens of thousands of suspected gang members without following due process, are just two examples of the human rights violations in El Salvador that she and her organization have documented.
According to Bukele and his administration, the crackdown has significantly reduced crime and made the nation safer, but detractors say it has also resulted in the detention of over 85,000 people, mostly young men, and numerous human rights abuses.
Her arrest occurs as the nation cracks down on dissent and as the Trump administration is strengthening its relationship with the Bukele government, which agreed to imprison migrants deported from the United States. A.
According to a statement from Cristosal, armed police detained Lopez at her residence late on Sunday night. The human rights group condemned her arrest as a “short-term enforced disappearance” and stated that her whereabouts are still unknown.
During a press conference on Monday, Lopez’s mother, Eleonor Alfaro, said the authority’s treatment of her daughter had been “cruel,” and she called for her immediate release alongside the human rights group’s leaders and Lopez’s partner, Louis Benavide. Lopez’s family and Cristosal both refute the accusations against her, claiming they are politically motivated.
In a social media statement, the Attorney General’s office confirmed Lopez’s arrest. Alongside former Supreme Electoral Tribunal President Eugenio Chicas, who was arrested in February on charges of illicit enrichment, which he disputes, they allege Lopez participated in the embezzlement of state funds.
The Salvadoran government has detained demonstrators in recent weeks. The protests were allegedly encouraged by non-profit groups, according to President Bukele.
Aside from that, Bukele declared he would start taxing NGOs on foreign donations. A lot of people thought the action was an assault on his detractors.
