Bukele signs reforms allowing life prison sentences in El Salvador

Key Points:

• Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele signed constitutional reforms allowing life sentences for individuals as young as 12 convicted of serious crimes such as homicide, femicide, rape, and gang membership, with the reforms set to take effect on April 26.
• The reforms, passed by Bukele’s party-controlled Legislative Assembly, also establish new criminal courts and mandate sentence reviews decades into life terms based on the convict's age and crime severity.
• Critics argue these measures are part of Bukele’s increasingly harsh crackdown on gangs, which has involved mass detentions, suspension of constitutional rights, and allegations of human rights abuses, despite significant drops in homicide rates.
• Bukele’s government has detained over 91,000 people under a prolonged state of emergency, with many held on vague charges and subjected to mass trials, drawing condemnation for undermining democracy and weakening judicial checks and balances.
• The reforms follow other controversial constitutional changes, including the removal of presidential term limits, enabling Bukele to potentially remain in power indefinitely amid accusations of targeting critics and suppressing opposition voices.