Human rights NGO with Episcopal ties suspends operations in El Salvador as repression escalates

[Episcopal News Service] Cristosal, an Episcopal-affiliated organization committed to defending human rights and promoting democratic rule of law in Central America, was forced to suspend its operations in El Salvador, though its work will continue from offices in Guatemala and Honduras, according to a July 17 press release.

The suspension of operations comes after El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly on July 23 approved a “Foreign Agents” law, requiring individuals and organizations that receive funding from abroad to register as such.

“We have been forced to leave the country that was our first home. The decision to withdraw physically from El Salvador was one we never imagined making, but in the face of escalating risk, it became necessary,” Cristosal’s Executive Director Noah Bullock and Board President David Holiday wrote in a same-day e-newsletter to supporters.

“With no due process, no legal protections, and no guarantees of safety, our foremost responsibility is to protect our staff and their families. These threats are not theoretical: one of our colleagues has been unjustly detained, and others are being targeted.” 

In late May, Salvadoran police detained Ruth López, a lawyer who led Cristosal’s anti-corruption unit. The Salvadorian government later arrested Enrique Anaya, a constitutional lawyer who had criticized her arrest. Both lawyers remain in custody. 

“The line between defender and victim has collapsed – we are now living the very repression we’ve spent decades working to confront. Even in the face of forced departure, this is not a retreat from our mission – it’s a deeper commitment to it,” Bullock and Holiday wrote in the e-newsletter.  

Cristosal was founded as a partnership between clergy in El Salvador and the United States in 2000. It has since become an independent nonprofit, with continued Episcopal support, and has expanded operations to Guatemala and Honduras. 

In early February, the Trump administration’s foreign aid freeze forced Cristosal to halt its humanitarian aid program, which had provided protection and reintegration services to some 1,600 internally displaced people in the Northern Triangle, where violence is driven by organized crime, narco-trafficking, and, increasingly, political instability.

After the cuts, Cristosal continued to provide legal and accompaniment services in El Salvador to individuals and families whose human rights had been violated by the state due to the absence of the rule of law imposed by the “state of exception,” which began in late March 2022 when President Nayib Bukele declared a state of emergency, suspending citizens’ fundamental rights by giving authorities the power to arrest and imprison anyone suspected of gang activity without due process.

Cristosal is a U.S.-registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit and continues to receive support from private philanthropic organizations like the Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation, and from Episcopal churches and Episcopalians, to aid victims of violence, to investigate and seek accountability for human rights violations, and to combat corruption. 

U.S. foreign assistance agencies have recognized Cristosal as a regional leader in the defense of human rights. In 2016, Cristosal received its first federal grant from USAID to assist people forcibly displaced by violence in El Salvador, and it then expanded assistance to people in Guatemala and Honduras.