Paris, Geneva, 28 May 2025. Arbitrariness is becoming the norm to silence independent voices in El Salvador. On 18 May, 2025, at 11:00 p.m., Ruth López, a renowned lawyer and head of the Anti-Corruption Unit at the organisation Cristosal, was arrested at her home by the National Civil Police. Deprived of contact with her family and lawyers for over twelve hours, she was transferred without explanation through several detention facilities. To this day, no formal charges have been brought against her, even though the prosecutor’s office has publicly accused her of embezzlement.
"What Ruth López is experiencing is not an isolated case: it is part of a strategy of terror aimed at silencing those who dare to speak the truth", said Jimena Reyes, Head of the FIDH Americas Desk.
Cristosal, an NGO founded by Anglican bishops and dedicated to defending displaced, persecuted, or vulnerable individuals, is now in the crosshairs of the authorities. Its work is becoming increasingly difficult in a country sliding into authoritarianism. It now joins other organisations targeted by the government, such as the Unidad de Defensa de Derechos Humanos y Comunitarios (UNIDEHC). Freedom of the press is also under threat, with recent attacks on journalists from the online media outlet El Faro following revelations of alleged links between the government and organised crime networks. The latest crackdown: the adoption on 20 May, 2025, of the "Foreign Agents Law", a repressive piece of legislation that threatens the financial survival and very existence of independent civil society.
"We are witnessing a frightening misuse of criminal law to silence critical voices. This climate of fear is incompatible with the rule of law and democracy", said Gerald Staberock, Secretary General of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT).
A Law to Silence Civil Society
Passed in haste, the "Foreign Agents Law" requires NGOs receiving international funding to register as such, under threat of sanctions. A 30% tax is applied to these funds, and any activity deemed political is prohibited—a vague wording that allows for broad and arbitrary interpretation. This law is modeled after legislation already used to suppress dissent in authoritarian regimes such as Nicaragua, and it marks a new phase in the criminalisation of solidarity in El Salvador, which has been under a state of emergency since March 2022.