The justice system of El Salvador has admitted a habeas corpus petition in favor of lawyer and humanitarian activist Ruth López, a critic of President Nayib Bukele’s government, but failed to address her “arbitrary detention,” according to the NGO representing her. López, head of the anti-corruption unit at the humanitarian NGO Cristosal, was arrested on May 18, accused of illicit enrichment by the Attorney General’s Office, in a case that international organizations have denounced as part of a government strategy to silence human rights defenders.
Upon admitting the habeas corpus request, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice appointed a judge to whom López may appeal to assess the legality of her detention. Cristosal described the decision on social media platform X as a “positive and unusual act.”
However, the ruling “does not acknowledge the arbitrary detention” and “fails to address the violation of due process” during López’s arrest, which Cristosal said was “carried out through deception and degrading treatment.” Furthermore, Cristosal claims the court endorsed the application of measures under the state of exception—typically used for gang members—and did not uphold the constitutional 72-hour limit for administrative detention before appearing before a judge.
López, 47, was brought before a judge two weeks after her arrest. During a hearing on June 4, she was ordered to six months of provisional detention, a decision that her defense appealed this past Wednesday. Despite what Cristosal calls a “serious deterioration of judicial independence,” the organization is demanding that the Constitutional Chamber and the appointed judge fully uphold the habeas corpus “in strict accordance with the Constitution, with objectivity,” and take into account “the serious violations of due process.”
As a Cristosal activist, López had been investigating alleged corruption in the Bukele administration, criticizing his security policies, and assisting 252 Venezuelans deported from the U.S. and imprisoned in a maximum-security facility in El Salvador. According to prosecutors, López allegedly committed illicit enrichment a decade ago while advising then-president of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, Eugenio Chicas, who was also arrested in February on the same charge.
Bukele, who now rules El Salvador with near-total power after being re-elected in 2024 with 85% of the vote amid his anti-gang crackdown, accuses his critics of leftist political activism.
