Mexico City - Leading human rights activist Ruth López was arrested in El Salvador after the Attorney General's office accused her of misappropriating state funds. López leads the anti-corruption and judicial program of human rights group Cristosal.

López has been a vocal critic of El Salvador President Nayib Bukele. She and her organization documented human rights violations in El Salvador, including inhuman conditions and a state of emergency in prisons, during which the government suspended many constitutional rights and imprisoned thousands of suspicious gang members without following due process.

Berkle and his administration claimed that the crackdown made the country safer, and while this led to a sharp drop in crime, critics say it also led to the detention of more than 85,000 young people and human rights violations.

Her arrest comes amid growing crackdown on dissent in the country, and the Trump administration is building increasingly close ties with the Buckley administration after the Trump administration agreed to imprison immigrants deported from the United States.

Lopez was arrested at her home by armed police on Sunday evening, Cristosal said in a statement. Human rights groups say her whereabouts remain unknown and condemned her arrest as a "short-term execution missing."

Her mother, Eleonor Alfaro, spoke at a press conference Monday with Louis Benavide, the leader of human rights group Louis Benavide, who said the authorities treated her daughter "brutally" and asked her to release her immediately. Both Cristosal and Lopez's families denied the allegations against her, saying it was politically motivated.

The Attorney General's Office confirmed Lopez's arrest in a statement on social media. They claimed Lopez was involved in the misappropriation of state funds while working with Supreme Election Court Magistrate Eugenio Chicas, who was arrested for allegations of illegal abundance - he denied.

In the past few weeks, the El Salvador government has arrested protesters. President Bucker accused nonprofits of encouraging protests.

Buckler also announced that he would start taxing money they received from abroad. The move is often seen as an attack on his critics.

In a joint statement, many international human rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, condemned Lopez's arrest and said they "deeply concerned about the increasingly widespread environment of fear and threatens the country's freedom."