El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has signed controversial legislation that will permit courts to sentence children as young as 12 to life in prison for severe crimes including murder, terrorism, and rape, according to the nation’s official publication.
The new laws were published Tuesday and are set to become active on April 26, following a constitutional change passed in March by the legislature, which is controlled by Bukele’s administration.
These modifications remove the special juvenile court processes that previously applied to young offenders between ages 12 and 18, although the new framework does allow for regular case evaluations and the possibility of supervised community release.
The constitutional modification occurred just days after an international legal committee found “reasonable grounds” to believe El Salvador has engaged in crimes against humanity throughout its extended emergency declaration period.
United Nations human rights officials have condemned these legal changes as violations of children’s fundamental rights. President Bukele has pushed back against this criticism, arguing that the former juvenile justice system allowed young offenders to escape accountability.
The 44-year-old leader’s continued emergency powers, which have suspended numerous constitutional protections, have resulted in more than 90,000 arrests. Human rights groups estimate that at least 500 individuals have died while in government detention.
