source: Cristosal
May 18, 2026, marks one year since the arrest of renowned attorney Ruth Eleonora López, Head of Anti-Corruption at Cristosal.
Ruth is a human rights defender and anti-corruption advocate who has dedicated her career to justice and accountability in El Salvador. As head of Cristosal’s Anti-Corruption Unit, she investigated major corruption cases, presented criminal complaints to the Salvadoran Attorney General, represented victims of fraud related to the use of Bitcoin as an official currency, and defended democratic norms through strategic litigation before the Salvadoran Constitutional Court.
In March 2025, following an agreement between the Trump administration and President Bukele to transfer more than 200 Venezuelans and Salvadorans to El Salvador’s CECOT prison without due process or legal representation, Ruth was among the few lawyers willing to challenge these actions.
Ruth led the Anti-Corruption and Justice Team at the human rights organization, Cristosal, leading efforts to uncover and combat many instances of corruption at the highest levels of government.
Ruth filed 76 habeas corpus petitions on behalf of families seeking basic information about the whereabouts of their loved ones. Shortly afterward, she herself was detained.
Ruth was arrested at her home on May 18, 2025, without a judicial warrant and without prior investigation. She has remained in pretrial detention ever since. For much of that time, she has been held incommunicado, with severely restricted communication with her family and legal defense team. Despite her request for a public trial, proceedings in her case have remained closed to the public, raising serious concerns about due process, transparency, and judicial independence.
Ruth López is one of El Salvador’s most prominent voices denouncing the arbitrary arrests and human rights abuses under the Bukele government’s ongoing State of Exception. At the time of her arrest, Ruth had recently supported legal complaints of unconstitutionality against the imprisonment of Venezuelan migrants at the CECOT megaprison. She had previously marched alongside social movement groups that had united in the fight against the Bukele government’s reversal of the country’s historic metallic mining ban, filing a constitutional challenge against the move.
Because she has been denied adequate communication with family and lawyers while imprisoned (in Izalco prison since July 2025), the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued precautionary measures because of “cruel and inhumane treatment.” The IAHCR determined that Ruth López faces “a serious, urgent risk of suffering irreparable harm to her rights to life, personal integrity, and health.”
More than 500 legal and civil society groups have called for her release, including Amnesty International, which designated her a prisoner of conscience.
The United States cannot stay silent on this atrocity.
Click here to tell Congress to fight Bukele’s authoritarian repression:
-publicly call for Ruth's immediate release and condemn her arbitrary detention.
-introduce or support legislation conditioning U.S. security assistance to El Salvador on human rights improvements.
-request a State Department briefing on U.S. efforts to secure Ruth's freedom.
-support the IACHR's precautionary measures demanding an end to her detention.
-Coordinate with international allies to apply diplomatic pressure on the Bukele government.
“One year ago, Ruth López was taken. Not for a crime, but for her courage. For speaking truth. For defending others when it was dangerous to do so. A year later, she remains imprisoned. A year later, the truth she stood for has not changed. We remember. We name what happened. And we keep speaking until she is free.” #FreeRuth
WE DEMAND THAT THE GOVERNMENT OF EL SALVADOR:
1. Comply with the precautionary measures ordered by the IACHR on behalf of Ruth, including safeguarding her health and personal safety, ending any undue restrictions on visits from her family and lawyers, and addressing the circumstances of her detention.
2. Given that the deadline for the preliminary investigation is approaching, ensure that Ruth is afforded due process, particularly her right to a public trial without undue delay, and allow her to exercise her right to a full defense in her capacity as a lawyer, as she has requested.
3. Review the pretrial detention order and ensure that she is entitled to the presumption of innocence and to release pending trial, given that she has been in custody for a year.
4. Immediately release all political prisoners and implement alternatives to detention, such as house arrest, for the duration of legal proceedings; ensure that hearings are public and that due process is fully respected; and lift all restrictions on communication with defense teams and family members while political prisoners remain in custody.
We call on the international community, human rights defenders, and all those committed to justice to raise our voices. A year of arbitrary detention is not just a year taken away from Ruth López and her family; it is a year of intimidation directed at all those in El Salvador and the region who dare to defend rights, demand accountability, and resist the abuse of power.
We demand the immediate and unconditional release of Ruth López and all those detained for political reasons in El Salvador. We demand an end to the harassment of human rights defenders, full respect for due process, and the restoration of the rule of law.
TAKE ACTION to demand the release of human rights lawyer Ruth López.
(1) Use the campaign toolkit to share Ruth’s story with social media graphics, sample posts, scripts to contact legislators. Click here.
(2) Repost and share campaign posts: Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook. #FreeRuth
(3) Circulate reports, interviews, statements, and stories about Ruth.
(4) Tell Congress to support legislation to condition US police/military aid to El Salvador on human rights improvements and request a US State Department briefing on efforts to secure the freedom of Ruth López. Click here
Visibility matters. Collective attention and solidarity help push back against silence, fear, and the normalization of injustice. Speaking Ruth’s name together is part of that work.
