By Gloria Silvia Orellana. Resumen Latinoamericano, May 24, 2025.
Ruth Eleonora Lopez being arrested
Ruth Eleonora López, a courageous and committed voice in the defense of human rights in El Salvador for years was arrested by the National Civil Police (PNC), who arrived at her home at around midnight on Sunday, May 18.
In recent years, from her position as head of the Anti-Corruption and Justice Unit at the civil rights organization Cristosal, she has denounced various cases of corruption allegedly committed by public officials and employees of the current government her organization said.
The Mesa por el Derecho a Defender Derechos (MDDD) demanded the release of the anti corruption lawyer in a statement that many other progressive organizations signed on to.
“The undersigned national and international organizations, defenders of human rights and democracy, express our deep rejection of the recent arrest of defender Ruth Eleonora López,” the statement said.
“Ruth Eleonora López has been a courageous voice committed to the defense of human rights. In recent years, in her position as head of Cristosal’s Anti-Corruption and Justice Unit, she has denounced various cases of corruption allegedly committed by public officials and employees of the current government,” the statement went on to say, “This act represents a direct attack on her work as a defender and adds to the wave of violence against human rights defenders in recent weeks,” the MDDD said.
Several posts circulating on social media detail that during her arrest, Ruth Eleonora told the agents who captured her: “Have some decency, this will end one day. You can’t lend yourselves to this,” according to a recording of her arrest that was released by a morning newspaper and has been widely shared and is going viral on social media.
After the arrest, the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) reported on its account on “X” about the proceedings and stated that the human rights and anti-corruption activist was arrested for “embezzlement” in connection with the case of former Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) president Eugenio Chicas, who has been in prison since February 13. The former official, who was the key witness for the defense in the case of the five ADES Santa Marta environmentalists, stated when he was taken to court that he was innocent and therefore a political prisoner.
In addition, Lopez has accompanied communities in their massive denunciation of metal mining, land contamination, and the formation of leadership in the territory. Her work,recognized nationally and internationally, has been fundamental in seeking a more just and equitable country,” the statement added.
Ruth Eleonora López, as a human rights lawyer, achieved international recognition for her professional work when she was named one of the “100 Inspiring and Influential Women” by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in December 2024.
“Her arrest is not an isolated incident, but part of a worrying pattern of criminalization and persecution of human rights defenders in El Salvador, in a context of instrumentalization of institutions to persecute, silence, obstruct, and delegitimize the entire human rights movement,” the MDDD statement reiterates.
The Roundtable for the Right to Defend Rights also urged the government to “contribute to protecting the right to defend human rights” by guaranteeing the necessary conditions for all people to be able to carry out this work “without fear of reprisals” in El Salvador.
Urgent calls have been sent out to the national and international community to be vigilant and show their support and solidarity at this critical moment for all human rights defenders in El Salvador.
In this regard, more than 15 human rights organizations including HRW, RFK Human Rights, WOLA, Amnesty International, and American Jewish World Service, among others, are demanding the immediate release of López: “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…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 US policymakers and the diplomatic community at large to urge President Bukele to cease all attacks against human rights defenders.”
In the United States, several politicians have called for Lopez’s release. Senator Jeanne Shaheen wrote: “I’m deeply concerned by the arrest and reported disappearance of Ruth Lopez, a leading human rights attorney in El Salvador. When leaders arbitrarily jail those in civil society who shine a light on injustice, we must all speak out.”
Escalating repression in El Salvador
Lopez’s arrest took place in the midst of escalating attacks on human rights organizations in the country. On May 12, hundreds of peasant families demonstrated outside the home of President Nayib Bukele. They were demonstrating to ask for the president’s help to suspend an eviction order which was allegedly over a contested debt owed by the families’ cooperative.
The government responded with brute force. Several community leaders were arrested, while elderly people and children were pushed around.