On Sunday 18 May 2025, agents from the National Civil Police arrested woman human rights defender and lawyer Ruth Eleonora López at her home. Ruth leads the anti-corruption and justice unit at human rights organization CRISTOSAL. The arrest was carried out based on a warrant issued by the General Prosecutor’s Office of El Salvador for an alleged crime of “embezzlement” linked to her time as a public official.

Ruth is currently working on high-impact political cases affecting the government, so her arrest and criminalization could be aimed at silencing her. Importantly, these acts take place within a context of deepening authoritarian trends and criminalization of human rights defense in the country, as we recently denounced together with other international organizations.

At CRISTOSAL, Ruth has carried out important work denouncing corruption and promoting transparency in El Salvador. Her work as a lawyer and woman human rights defender has been widely recognized both nationally and internationally, having been named in 2024 among the 100 inspiring and influential women from around the world by the British Broadcasting Company (BBC).

CRISTOSAL is renowned for defending and promoting human rights in the country, particularly for denouncing multiple systematic human rights violations committed during the state of emergency in place since 2023. As a result, the organization and its team are repeatedly targeted, threatened and subjected to defamation and smear campaigns by the government and its supporters.

IM-Defensoras joins CRISTOSAL’s call to guarantee the woman defender’s physical and moral integrity and to respect due process. We also demand guarantees of protection for the rest of CRISTOSAL’s team and an end to the defamation and smear campaigns against the organization.

Finally, we call on the international community to remain vigilant of Ruth’s situation and to join the demand for her prompt release; we are concerned about her health and integrity. We call on the State to guarantee due process.