As human rights defender Ruth López spends her second birthday behind bars, Amnesty International reiterates its request to the Salvadoran authorities to conduct a humanitarian visit and calls for her immediate and unconditional release.
On 1 August 2026, Amnesty International sent formal communications to the Attorney General, the Minister of Justice and Public Security, the Director General of Prisons, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the judge in charge of the case, requesting authorization for a high-level delegation from the organization to visit Ruth López and directly assess her conditions of detention. The request was reiterated on 26 August and, to date, none of the five authorities has responded. Ana Piquer, Amnesty International’s Americas Director, said:
The authorities’ silence appears increasingly deliberate with each passing day. Every minute that passes makes it even more necessary to allow an independent assessment of Ruth’s conditions in prison.”
Ana Piquer, Amnesty International’s Americas Director
Ruth López has faced proceedings marred by irregularities, which have also been questioned by
UN Special Rapporteurs
, who have warned that the circumstances of her detention point to retaliation for her legitimate and peaceful work as a human rights defender.
At the end of last year, we addressed
a public letter to the Human Rights Ombudsperson
, highlighting the lack of diligent action in Ruth’s case. In addition to the absence of an independent and effective national mechanism to monitor the situation of people deprived of their liberty in El Salvador, there is now a de facto refusal to allow international scrutiny. Today, more than 16 months after her detention, there is still no certainty about the conditions in which she is being held.
To Ruth and her family, we want to send a message of solidarity and reaffirm our commitment to keeping alive the demand for her immediate and unconditional release. At this very moment, thousands of
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