UN experts condemn use of Interpol red notices against human rights defenders in El Salvador

UN specialists warned on Wednesday that El Salvador is misusing the Interpol regulation enforcement scheme to additional its political agenda by issuing pink notices in opposition to two Salvadoran human rights defenders in exile.

The specialists spotlight that the fees and pink notices in opposition to Ivania Cruz and Rudy Joya, who’re in exile in Spain, “seem like with out foundation and in direct reference to their authentic human rights work for UNIDEHC to help communities underneath menace and denounce the actions of the Authorities underneath the state of emergency declared in 2022.”

The state of emergency arose initially due to elevated killings by legal gangs. It has since been repeatedly renewed, elevating quite a few human rights issues.

Cruz and Joya, who each work for UNIDEHC, fled El Salvador as a result of authorized repercussions of being human rights defenders. UNIDEHC is a non-governmental group that has repeatedly uncovered severe human rights violations. Significantly, the group expressed help for the La Floresta group, which confronted compelled eviction makes an attempt since 2024. Amnesty Worldwide reported the detainment of a spokesperson for UNIDEHC, Fidel Zavala, and the arrest of roughly 20 group leaders from La Floresta in February 2025. Amnesty Worldwide labelled Zavala’s detention as “significantly regarding” as a result of he had noticed and denounced torture and different merciless, inhuman, or degrading therapy in jail facilities. Moreover, UNIDEHC’s places of work and Cruz’s residence have been searched.

Notably, the Irish-based human rights group, Entrance Line Defenders, has acknowledged that human rights defenders are sometimes labelled as “traitors of the nation” by authorities in El Salvador. Arrest warrants in opposition to group leaders and environmental defenders have been additionally issued in April 2025. Furthermore, Salvadorian authorities have been beforehand accused of misusing the legal justice system and up to date authorized reforms to silence and suppress human rights defenders.

The UN specialists spotlight that Article 3 of the ICPO-INTERPOL Structure explicitly states that “it’s strictly forbidden for [Interpol] to undertake any intervention or actions of a political … character.” Article 2 highlights that Interpol goals to conduct its actions “within the spirit of the Common Declaration of Human Rights.”

The pink notices have been issued in opposition to Cruz and Joya by Interpol in July 2025. The UN specialists “name on Interpol to instantly revoke the pink notices and judicial sanctions in opposition to Ivania Cruz and Rudy Joya, and on Spain to refuse to accede to the pink discover and to make sure their security by rejecting their forcible return to El Salvador.”