The humanitarian organization Cristosal denounced on Saturday that Salvadoran lawyer Ruth López, head of its anti-corruption unit and considered a “prisoner of conscience” by Amnesty International, was arbitrarily transferred to a harsher prison despite having health conditions.
The 47-year-old activist was arrested on May 18, accused by the Attorney General’s Office of illicit enrichment in a case that international organizations view as part of President Nayib Bukele’s crackdown on dissent and human rights NGOs. López was moved from the Land Transit Division of the National Civil Police in San Salvador to the Izalco prison, located 70 km west of the capital, where there is a women’s section.
“We denounce the arbitrary transfer of Ruth López to Izalco and her isolation from family and legal counsel,” said Cristosal in a statement, adding that the situation “creates uncertainty about her true condition.” She was transferred “arbitrarily” despite a prior court order “that required she remain at the police station due to health reasons,” Cristosal added, without specifying her medical conditions and lamenting that her family has been unable to deliver needed medication.
López, a critic of Bukele’s security policies, had been investigating alleged government corruption cases and assisting relatives of Venezuelans deported by the U.S. and jailed in El Salvador. UN experts have called for her protection, and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is processing precautionary measures.
In addition to López’s arrest, May also saw the detention of an environmental lawyer, a community leader, and a constitutional lawyer who has strongly criticized Bukele, even calling him a “dictator.”
