El Salvador has passed a law allowing courts to sentence minors to life imprisonment for crimes including rape, murder, and terrorism, intensifying President Nayib Bukele’s controversial crackdown on gangs
The bill, approved on Thursday, follows a constitutional reform earlier this month that increased the maximum prison term for serious crimes from 60 years to life. Bukele has advocated applying the law to individuals under 18, regardless of gang affiliation.
“We have given Salvadoran families the reassurance that none of these criminals will ever see the light of day again,” said Ernesto Castro, president of the National Assembly and member of Bukele’s ruling party.
Bukele, who has referred to himself as the “world’s coolest dictator,” has overseen the mass incarceration of suspected gang members under a state of emergency declared in 2022. More than 90,000 people have been arrested—often without warrants—accused of gang involvement, though roughly 8,000 were later released after being found innocent.
Critics have condemned policies allowing anyone accused of gang membership to be held in adult prisons, calling the measures a major human rights concern. While the crackdown has contributed to a historic drop in homicide rates, opponents warn that innocent citizens continue to suffer.
Francisco Lira, a deputy from the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (Arena), said “thousands” of Salvadorans are still “waiting for a fair trial” and lamented that “good people are paying for something they did not do.”
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