IACHR grants precautionary measures in favor of rights defender Ruth López in El Salvador

September 23, 2025

Washington, DC—The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued Resolution 66/2025 on September 22, 2025, to grant precautionary measures in favor of Ruth Eleonora López Alfaro in El Salvador, in the belief that she faces a serious, urgent risk of suffering irreparable harm to her rights to life, personal integrity, and health.

According to the request for these precautionary measures, the beneficiary heads the Justice and Anti-Corruption Unit at the Cristosal Foundation. López Alfaro was deprived of liberty on May 18, 2025. Since she was taken to the Granja de Izalco Women's Penitentiary Facility on July 4, 2025, she has been held incommunicado, without contact with her family and legal counsel. She has chronic health issues, but the details of her current situation and health condition remain unknown, since she is being held incommunicado.

The State said that the beneficiary was receiving personal hygiene packages and food sent to her by her family and was taking part in various activities provided for inmates at the penitentiary facility. The State also said it had taken measures to protect the beneficiary's right to health, among other by transferring her to a penitentiary facility with suitable conditions and appropriate healthcare services. Finally, the State said that there was no evidence that López Alfaro was not receiving adequate healthcare to treat her condition or that the system might be unable to provide adequate care in a timely manner.

When assessing this request for precautionary measures, the IACHR took into consideration the allegations in the broader context in El Salvador. The IACHR acknowledged the measures taken by the State in this case, but noted that the beneficiary, as a human rights defender, had led actions and complaints on issues of significant public interest and had been subjected to tracking and surveillance.

López Alfaro is allegedly deprived of liberty in application of pretrial detention, without specific deadlines, and is being held incommunicado. She allegedly has no contact with her family or legal counsel, who are unable to access information about her current situation, health condition, and conditions of detention despite several domestic remedies in their favor. Consequently, in keeping with Article 25 of its Rules of Procedure, the IACHR asked the State of El Salvador to take the following action:

1. Adopt any measures necessary to protect López Alfaro's rights to life, personal integrity, and health
2. Take all measures necessary to ensure that the beneficiary's conditions of detention reflect the applicable international standards, particularly the following: immediately stop holding the beneficiary incommunicado; enable her to have regular contact with and access to her family, lawyers, and other representatives, as a way to safeguard her rights; and, considering the risks for her life, personal integrity, and health and the fact that pretrial detention should be an exceptional measure, review the application of pretrial detention in this case, given the applicable standards, and consider alternatives
3. Come to an agreement with the beneficiary and her representatives concerning any measures that need to be taken
4. Report on any action taken to investigate the alleged events that gave rise to the adoption of these precautionary measures—including any ties to the beneficiary's work as a human rights defender—in order to prevent such events from happening again in the future

The fact that these precautionary measures have been granted and their adoption by the State do not entail a prejudgment on a potential petition that may be filed before the inter-American system to allege violations of rights protected by the American Convention on Human Rights and other applicable instruments.

The IACHR is an autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS) whose mandate is based on the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. Its mission is to promote and defend human rights throughout the Americas and to serve as an advisory body to the OAS in this area. The IACHR consists of seven independent members elected by the OAS General Assembly who serve in a personal capacity and do not represent their countries of origin or residence.

No. 193/25

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