Ruth Eleanora López is a Salvadoran human rights lawyer, anti-corruption advocate, and professor who served as legal chief of regional human rights organization Cristosal’s Anti-Corruption and Justice Unit, where she investigated alleged government corruption and represented victims of arbitrary detention and abuse under the Bukele regime. Her work earned international recognition: in 2024, the BBC named her one of its 100 Most Influential Women in the World, and in 2025 she received the American Bar Association’s International Human Rights Award.
Salvadoran authorities had previously identified her as a “person of interest” and as part of the opposition’s “ideological apparatus” because of her work as an anti-corruption activist. Ruth was arrested on May 18, 2025, and has remained in prolonged pretrial detention without a trial date. The charges against her were initially framed as embezzlement and later changed to illicit enrichment, while proceedings have been sealed from public scrutiny (“reserva total”) and her access to family and legal counsel has been restricted. In July 2025, Amnesty International designated Ruth a prisoner of conscience, concluding that her detention resulted from her legitimate human rights work. In September 2025, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights subsequently issued precautionary measures in her favor, and United Nations experts, international legal organizations, and members of the U.S. Congress have called for her release.