A prominent human rights group critical of El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has suspended operations in the country, citing the government’s harassment, repression and persecution of human rights defenders.
Cristosal Executive Director Noah Bullock said the group would continue to operate from Guatemala and Honduras, and that the Salvadoran government’s actions have made it difficult to continue their work.
“We are forced to choose between prison or exile,” Bullock said at a press conference in Guatemala City on Thursday.
CNN has reached out to the Salvadoran presidency for comment on Bullock’s remarks.
Bukele has been carrying out an iron-fisted crackdown on crime, which has expanded to civil society groups and journalists. The government has defended its actions, pointing to significant reductions in gang violence nationwide, but opponents say it has come at the cost of mass incarceration and the erosion of civil liberties.
Cristosal’s announcement comes almost two months after one of its members, lawyer and human rights activist Ruth Eleonora López, was detained by Salvadoran authorities on allegations of illicit enrichment. López has pleaded not guilty to the charges and has requested a public trial.
The group’s leaders believe her detention is not an isolated case, but a turning point for them as an organization.
“With the threats we have received, with Ruth’s criminalization and with the limited possibilities of security guarantees, we are more useful (to the cause) by being outside but free, than by risking imprisonment in El Salvador,” Bullock said Thursday
“Currently, El Salvador does not offer the conditions to continue this work in person,” added Abraham Ábrego, Cristosal’s litigation director.
Cristosal has operated in El Salvador for 25 years. During Bukele’s administration, it has conducted various investigations and condemned what it considers a lack of transparency, accountability, deterioration of democracy and human rights violations.
Meanwhile, the government has accused organizations like Cristosal of being political activists and neglecting the rights of Salvadorans.
Cristosal is the latest group to be pushed out of the country as part of the government’s crackdown.
The investigative outlet El Faro has been running most of its operations in exile from Costa Rica since 2023. Earlier this year, several of its journalists fled the country, anticipating arrest over their work.
Foreign Agents Law
El Salvador’s Foreign Agents Law has been another obstacle for Cristosal. The law imposes a 30% tax on transactions, disbursements, donations or in-kind imports received by non-governmental organizations whose activities in El Salvador are financed from abroad. The taxes collected, according to the law, will be used for projects of general or social interest.
Rights groups have described the legislation as an existential threat.
“The intention is to apply the law discretionarily to silence, even criminalize, us and other human rights organizations,” Bullock said.
“The Foreign Agents Law allows authorities, at their discretion, to control any organization; it imposes a tax on organizations. Only the government will have the discretion to choose who to prosecute and who not to,” Ábrego added.
The law gives NGOs until September 4 to register with the Ministry of the Interior. If they don’t, they will be unable to operate and will face fines ranging from $100,000 to $250,000. Cristosal said it has already submitted its registration but has not yet received a response.
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