Police in El Salvador arrested a prominent human rights lawyer and critic of President Nayib Bukele who helps imprisoned Venezuelan migrants deported by the United States, prompting appeals Monday for her release.
A coalition of rights groups including Amnesty International said the arrest of Ruth Eleonora Lopez reflected a trend of growing authoritarianism under Bukele, an ally of US President Donald Trump.
The 47-year-old was detained late Sunday, accused of embezzling state funds when she worked for an electoral court a decade ago, the public prosecutor’s office said.
“Neither her family nor her legal team has managed to find out her whereabouts,” Cristosal, the rights group she worked for, said in a statement.
It called the authorities’ refusal to disclose Lopez’s location or grant her lawyers access “a blatant violation of due process.”
Her arrest “raises serious concerns about the increasing risks faced by human rights defenders in El Salvador,” it added.
Lopez runs Cristosal’s corruption and justice division and has criticized Bukele’s anti-crime policy, which has seen thousands of alleged gangsters arrested.
Bukele, who is popular among Salvadorans due to his crackdown on street gangs, has called himself “the world’s coolest dictator” and is a darling of Trump.
Lopez was included in a list of 100 inspiring and influential women around the world last year by the BBC, which praised her for being “passionate about law and justice.”
‘Tool to silence critical voices’
A statement signed by more than a dozen human rights organizations including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch condemned Lopez’s arrest and demanded her release.
“El Salvador’s state of exception has not only been used to address gang-related violence but also as a tool to silence critical voices,” it said.
“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,” it added.
Cristosal helps families of Salvadorans caught up in Bukele’s crackdown on gangs as well as more than 250 Venezuelans deported by the Trump administration, which paid El Salvador to imprison them.
Trump invoked rarely used wartime laws to fly the Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador in March without any court hearings, alleging they belonged to the Tren de Aragua gang, a charge that their families and lawyers deny.
Last week, a law firm hired by Caracas to assist the Venezuelans alleged that the migrants were victims of physical and emotional torture.
Cristosal said in late April that police officers had entered its headquarters during a press conference to film and photograph the premises, as well as members of the media and vehicles belonging to staff.
It said the incident was part of “the current context of authoritarianism and the closure of democratic spaces in El Salvador.”
Bukele’s human rights commissioner Andres Guzman, who has defended the leader against allegations of abuses during his war on gangs, told AFP on Monday that he had resigned.
The Colombian lawyer did not reveal why he quit, but said he had been a “privileged witness to a historic transformation” of the country from its previous state of “chaos and despair.”
