El Salvador arrests prominent human rights lawyer

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.

López has been an outspoken critic of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele. 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.

Bukele and his government claim that the crackdown has made the country much safer, and while it has led to a dramatic reduction in crime, critics say it has also led to the detention of at over 85,000 mainly young men and widespread human rights violations.

Her arrest comes amid a growing crackdown on dissent in the country and at a time when the Trump administration is cultivating increasingly close ties with the Bukele government, after they agreed to imprison migrants deported from the U.S.

In a statement, Cristosal said Lopez was arrested at her home late on Sunday evening by armed police. The human rights organization say her whereabouts remain unknown and denounced her arrest as “short-term enforced disappearance”.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday alongside the leaders of the human rights group and Lopez’s partner, Louis Benavide, her mother, Eleonor Alfaro said the authority’s treatment of her daughter had been “cruel,” and demanded her immediate release. Both Cristosal and Lopez’s family deny the charges against her which they say are politically motivated.

Lopez’s arrest was confirmed by the Attorney General’s office in a statement on social media. They claim Lopez was involved in the misappropriation of state funds while working alongside the former President of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal magistrate Eugenio Chicas, who was arrested in February over accusations of illicit enrichment – charges he denies.

Over the past couple of weeks, the Salvadoran government has arrested protesters. President Bukele accused non-profit organizations of encouraging the protests.

Bukele has also announced he would begin to tax NGOs on the money they receive from abroad. The move was broadly seen as an attack on his critics.

In a joint statement a number of international human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, condemned Lopez’s arrest and said they were “deeply concerned at the increasingly pervasive environment of fear that threatens freedoms in the country.”