May 18, 2026 marked one year since the Bukele regime arrested Ruth López, a beloved and renowned human rights and constitutional lawyer, without a warrant and without an investigation. She is one of dozens of political prisoners in El Salvador who remain detained following detentions and legal proceedings characterized by secrecy, the denial of due process, and disregard for their health and well-being. 

Ruth has been held in Izalco prison since July 2025. Soon after, Amnesty International has declared her a prisoner of conscience.

She continues to be denied adequate communication with her family and lawyers, despite precautionary measures from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). In September 2025, having determined that she faces “cruel and inhumane treatment” and is at risk of irreparable harm to her life and personal integrity, the IACHR called on the Salvadoran government to end her incommunicado detention and review the measures imposed against her.

Ruth was one of El Salvador’s most prominent voices denouncing the arbitrary arrests and human rights abuses carried out under the Bukele government’s ongoing State of Exception. “Ruth López spent years warning that President Bukele was dismantling the institutions that protect Salvadorans from abuses of power. Tragically, her own case is the clearest proof that she was right about El Salvador’s authoritarian drift,” said Juanita Goebertus, Americas Director at Human Rights Watch.

According to Cristosal, Ruth’s case “reflects a broader pattern of repression against those who speak with moral clarity and defend the dignity of others.” The organization has also raised concerns that, at the time of her arrest, Ruth had recently supported constitutional legal challenges against the imprisonment of Venezuelan migrants in the CECOT mega-prison, following an opaque agreement between Trump and Bukele.

She had also marched alongside social movement organizations opposing the Bukele government’s reversal of the country’s historic ban on metallic mining and helped file a constitutional challenge against the measure. Ruth’s case adds to the more than 30 political prisoners documented by the Committee of Relatives of Political Prisoners in El Salvador (COFAPPES).

In the days leading up to the anniversary of Ruth's arrest, social movement organizations gathered outside the prison where she remains unjustly detained, and a mass was held in her honor at the University of Central America José Simeón Cañas. Likewise, a group of churches, together with the National Committee Monsignor Romero of San Salvador and the Monsignor Romero Pastoral Ministry of the Santa Marta Community, held an ecumenical event to pray for her health and release, and to celebrate the final resolution acquitting the Santa Marta water defenders.

During the gathering, Father David Rodríguez, a recognized human rights defender, invited attendees to “continue fighting for life, justice, solidarity, and peace,” and reminded them of the Church’s vocation to speak out against injustice.

For its part, the Popular Resistance and Rebellion Bloc issued a statement denouncing Ruth’s imprisonment as “a threat against the entire nation, intended to impose fear as a form of government, criminalize the defense of rights, and indefinitely prolong pretrial detention as a mechanism of political persecution.”

The Bloc therefore demanded an end to persecution and criminalization and called for freedom not only for Ruth but for “all people imprisoned for political reasons in El Salvador for defending human rights, labor rights, community rights, territorial rights, environmental rights, constitutional guarantees, and democratic freedoms.”

Across El Salvador, the United States and internationally, organizations and individuals continue to join a social media campaign to demand justice and freedom for Ruth under the hashtags #LibertadParaRuth and #FreeRuth. 

CISPES echoes the international call to action to demand freedom for Ruth. Urge your Members of Congress to speak out for Ruth and take action regarding U.S. security assistance to El Salvador.