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Ruth Eleonora López’s organization, Cristosal, on Monday
condemned the arrest a day earlier, which it described as a
“short-term enforced disappearance,” and demanded the government
provide information on her whereabouts.
Cristosal has been one of the most outspoken critics of some of
President Nayib Bukele’s policies, especially the ongoing
three-year state of emergency, which has suspended some
fundamental rights related to due process, while the government
fights the country’s gangs.
The measure restricts the right to gather, to be informed of
rights and to have access to a lawyer. It extends to 15 days the
time that someone can be held without charges. Some 85,000
people have been arrested under the state of emergency.
López is the head of Cristosal’s Anti-Corruption Unit, which has
produced dozens of reports and filed legal actions related to
government corruption.
López’s team has “repeatedly documented and denounced the lack
of respect of due process in El Salvador, as well as the use of
government institutions to repress critical voices," Cristosal
said. "We have also revealed torture, mistreatment and death in
prisons.”
Neither López’s family nor her legal team knew where she was
taken after police removed her from her home around 11 p.m.
Sunday, Cristosal said in a statement.
“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,” Cristosal said.
The Attorney General’s Office did not respond to requests for
comment about López’s arrest. The president’s office declined to
comment.
The alleged wrongdoing dates to her time as an adviser to
Eugenio Chicas, the former president of the Supreme Electoral
Tribunal during the administration of President Salvador Sánchez
Cerén (2014-2021).
Chicas moved from the court to the Cabinet of Sánchez Cerén and
also served as a congressman. Last November, he and some of his
relatives were convicted in a civil case for illegal enrichment
between 2009 and 2021.
Chicas, who was detained in February, is now being prosecuted on
criminal charges of illegal enrichment.
The Attorney General’s Office alleged that López had been
involved in Chicas’ embezzlement.
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