human rights defender
Ruth Eleonora López Alfaro
Actions and Campaigns
Ruth Eleonora López Alfaro
HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER
Organization affiliation
- Cristosal
HRD's year of birth
1977
HRD's Gender
Woman
Type of HRD
- Academic
- Lawyer
- NGO member
HRD's thematic area of engagement
- Fight against corruption
- Fight against impunity
HRD's geographical origin
Urban
Current Status
In prison (pre-trial)
HRD's bio and work
(AI translated) Ruth Eleonora López Alfaro is a lawyer and notary public from the Republic of El Salvador, with specialized knowledge in commercial law and electoral law. She is also a university professor and human rights activist, internationally recognized for her work in combating corruption and promoting the rule of law and transparency in El Salvador.
Ruth studied law and graduated with honors in 1999, where she was honored as the best foreign student and the best student in the Faculty of Law.
Since 2018, she has been a tenured professor at the University José Simeón Cañas (UCA).
In April 2021, Ruth took on the role of Head of the Anti-Corruption and Justice Unit at the Fundación Cristosal. From there, she filed various reports and complaints regarding the improper use of public funds, reforms that violated El Salvador’s constitution, and legal changes to the public procurement system that legalized corruption and allowed the opaque use of funds.
Ruth also submitted complaints to the Court of Accounts regarding the use of public funds to finance espionage activities against journalists, human rights activists, and NGO leaders.
From within the Anti-Corruption Unit, she led investigations into major corruption cases, including the documentation of the “Case 300,” in which the government allocated funds to criminal organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ruth López has received international recognition for her efforts in fighting corruption. In 2024, she was selected by the BBC as one of the 100 most influential and inspiring women in the world.
Magnitsky Prize 2025: Recognized for her work in defending human rights.
She received the 2025 International Human Rights Award from the American Bar Association (ABA) for her defense of fundamental rights and promotion of public transparency.
Sir Henry Brooke Prize 2026: Awarded by the Alliance for Lawyers at Risk in the United Kingdom in recognition of her commitment to the rule of law.
OCCRP Hero against Crime and Corruption Prize: Presented by the Project on Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting for her efforts in combating systemic corruption, according to the Diario de Centro América.
Ruth López was also recognized by Amnesty International as a “Prisoner of Conscience” due to her arbitrary detention in El Salvador.
Detained since
May 18, 2025
Charge(s)
- Corruption
Latitude: 13.75468910444869
Longitude: -89.70205660582943
Geolocation of detention
Country or area of detention
Region of detention
- Americas: Latin America and the Caribbean
Location of detention - City/Town
Centro Penitenciario de izalco, Sonsonate
Location of detention - Facility
Granja Penitenciaria de Izalco
Attachments
- Country(ies) of nationality
- HRD's year of birth
- 1977
- HRD's Gender
- Woman
- Type of HRD
- Academic
- Lawyer
- NGO member
- HRD's thematic area of engagement
- Fight against corruption
- Fight against impunity
- Organization affiliation
- Cristosal
- HRD's Picture
- HRD's bio and work
(AI translated) Ruth Eleonora López Alfaro is a lawyer and notary public from the Republic of El Salvador, with specialized knowledge in commercial law and electoral law. She is also a university professor and human rights activist, internationally recognized for her work in combating corruption and promoting the rule of law and transparency in El Salvador.
Ruth studied law and graduated with honors in 1999, where she was honored as the best foreign student and the best student in the Faculty of Law.
Since 2018, she has been a tenured professor at the University José Simeón Cañas (UCA).
In April 2021, Ruth took on the role of Head of the Anti-Corruption and Justice Unit at the Fundación Cristosal. From there, she filed various reports and complaints regarding the improper use of public funds, reforms that violated El Salvador’s constitution, and legal changes to the public procurement system that legalized corruption and allowed the opaque use of funds.
Ruth also submitted complaints to the Court of Accounts regarding the use of public funds to finance espionage activities against journalists, human rights activists, and NGO leaders.
From within the Anti-Corruption Unit, she led investigations into major corruption cases, including the documentation of the “Case 300,” in which the government allocated funds to criminal organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ruth López has received international recognition for her efforts in fighting corruption. In 2024, she was selected by the BBC as one of the 100 most influential and inspiring women in the world.
Magnitsky Prize 2025: Recognized for her work in defending human rights.
She received the 2025 International Human Rights Award from the American Bar Association (ABA) for her defense of fundamental rights and promotion of public transparency.
Sir Henry Brooke Prize 2026: Awarded by the Alliance for Lawyers at Risk in the United Kingdom in recognition of her commitment to the rule of law.
OCCRP Hero against Crime and Corruption Prize: Presented by the Project on Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting for her efforts in combating systemic corruption, according to the Diario de Centro América.
Ruth López was also recognized by Amnesty International as a “Prisoner of Conscience” due to her arbitrary detention in El Salvador.
- HRD's geographical origin
- Urban
- Country or area of detention
- Region of detention
- Americas: Latin America and the Caribbean
- Location of detention - City/Town
- Centro Penitenciario de izalco, Sonsonate
- Location of detention - Facility
- Granja Penitenciaria de Izalco
- Geolocation of detention
Latitude: 13.75468910444869
Longitude: -89.70205660582943
- Geolocation of detention
- Detained since
- May 18, 2025
- Current Status
- In prison (pre-trial)
- Charge(s)
- Corruption
- Allegations / reports of ill-treatment
(AI translated) Ruth was detained under false pretenses late at night. At the time of her arrest, she was not given any document explaining the charges against her. She requested to change into clean clothes in the parking lot at the entrance to her home, but the officers refused to allow it. As a result, she was forced to change in public, in front of the officers and neighbors.
For the first 7 hours of her detention, she was locked up in a basement and was unable to sleep.
Ruth was completely isolated from her family and lawyers for a period of 32 hours.
- Protection actions and campaigns
- Consent status
- Consent to register, store and publish the information
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Date added
3 relationships, 2 entities