Bukele jails prominent anti-corruption lawyer

The arrest of a prominent anti-corruption lawyer in El Salvador is highlighting the increased willingness of Nayib Bukele's government to arrest and imprison critics of the regime’s practices. Late Sunday night authorities arrested Salvadoran lawyer Ruth López at her home.  She is the head of the Anti-corruption and Justice unit at Cristosal, the most prominent Salvadoran human rights organization.  Both López and Cristosal have been outspoken critics of the Bukele government for its human rights record and patterns of corruption.

The seizure of López comes at a moment when the Bukele regime is taking increasingly hard-line measures against its critics. Other activists and human rights defenders have also been imprisoned this year when they have been defending populations impacted by Salvadoran government policies.  López's is the highest profile arrest yet.  It illustrates that Bukele now feels he can take such actions with impunity.

The arrest occurred in the late-night hours Sunday at López’ home and was promptly announced on social media by Salvadoran prosecutors:

Today, the administrative detention order against Ruth Eleonora López Alfaro was executed for the crime of embezzlement. Ruth López was a trusted advisor and right-hand to Eugenio Chicas during his two terms at the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, during his tenure as a Magistrate and during his term as President of the TSE. She subsequently continued to serve as his right-hand during his tenure as Secretary of Communications for the Presidency of the Republic, while serving as an advisor at the Salvadoran Social Security Institute. During these terms, Ruth López assisted in the theft of funds from state coffers. According to the investigations and information gathered during the raids conducted in the Eugenio Chicas case, her active participation in the acts of which she is charged has been identified. Mr. Eugenio Chicas will also be notified of this new charge, arising from the investigations.

As she was arrested, López can be heard saying in a recording published by EDH:

"No, I already know: the only reason for the arrest here is that I'm a human rights defender and I work for an NGO that's inconvenient for the government; that's the only problem. There's nothing to explain here: embezzlement, corruption, if anyone is investigating corruption here, it is me" (translated from original Spanish)

Her colleagues at Cristosal sent out an urgent statement this morning:

Ruth was detained by agents of the National Civil Police at approximately 11:00 p.m. on Sunday. As of now, neither her family nor her legal team has been able to confirm her whereabouts or the detention center where she is being held.

The authorities' refusal to disclose her location or to allow access to her legal representatives is a blatant violation of due process, the right to legal defense, and international standards of judicial protection. Under these conditions, the case meets the criteria for an enforced disappearance, as defined by the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

A group of more than 60 Salvadoran and international human rights organizations signed onto their own statement noting:

Her capture, which constitutes a short-term enforced disappearance, is not an isolated incident; it is part of a worrying pattern of criminalization and persecution against people who defend human rights in El Salvador.

International human rights groups sought the immediate freedom of Lopez, asserting:

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. Our organizations have been closely monitoring the closing of civic space and attacks on independent press in El Salvador and are deeply concerned at the increasingly pervasive environment of fear that threatens freedoms in the country.

 We call on Salvadoran authorities to immediately release Ruth López and urge the Salvadoran government to guarantee her physical safety and due process rights.

In 2024, López was named by the BBC as one of the world’s 10 inspiring and influential women.  The New York Times pointed out today that:

Ms. López has been at the forefront of investigations into potential corruption or negligence by the Bukele government. One inquiry is related to the misuse of pandemic funds and another is tied to the contamination of the local water supply caused by the construction of the country’s mega prison known as CECOT. Another denounced the use of public funds to pay for Pegasus software used to spy on journalists and human rights groups in El Salvador.

The arrest of López is the latest escalation of Bukele’s willingness to arrest human rights defenders.  Examples in the recent past include the ongoing prosecution of the anti-mining activists of the Santa Marta 5, and the re-imprisonment of Fidel Zavala, who had spoken out publicly about torture and abuse he witnessed in Salvadoran prisons.

A recent report tabulated 538 assaults on human rights defenders and journalists in 2024 in El Salvador, up 136% from 2023.

In the days leading up to Ruth López's arrest, Bukele had acted against other activists.  On May 12 and 13, riot and military police were sent out to break up a group of about 150 people, including many children and elderly, from Cooperativa El Bosque, and then arrested a community leader and evangelical pastor, Jose Angel Perez, and environmental lawyer, Alejandro Henriquez, who were accompanying the community. The families had been peacefully picketing in front of the exclusive residential development where Bukele lives for several days to raise awareness of the pending eviction of their community of nearly 300 campesino families. 

Bukele then went on social media to announce that he planned to impose a 30% tax on donations that nonprofit organizations received from abroad. He claimed that it was foreign funded NGOs which were stirring up protests like the one outside his house.  "Good" NGOs would be exempt from the tax.  

Bukele has also threatened journalists whose reporting he does not like.   After journalists at El Faro published interviews with two gang members describing how Bukele's team had negotiated with them for political support and other arrangements, they learned the government could be getting ready warrants for their arrest.   The Washington Post describes:

Their news site had just exposed details of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s alleged deals with the country’s gangs. Now the three journalists were faced with a choice they had long dreaded.

The staff had received word that Bukele’s increasingly authoritarian government might be preparing warrants to arrest seven of its journalists. Four of the seven had already left El Salvador. Carlos Barrera, Efren Lemus and Victor Peña remained. To stay longer would mean risking arrest. To flee would mean risking detention at the border.

Just the credible threat of arrest in Bukele's El Salvador forces journalists to flee their homes and leaves ever fewer people in the country to hold the government to account.

Bukele has never cared about criticisms from human rights groups or even international bodies like the UN or the OAS.  He rejects external criticism as impinging on El Salvador’s sovereignty and paints his government as under attack by moneyed foreign interests who support his human rights critics.

With the arrival of the Trump administration, which cares as little about human rights as Bukele does, he has little worry about blowback from the US.  The arrests of Ruth López and other rights defenders show that Bukele now believes he can move against any critic or opposition with impunity.