El Salvador Has Passed A Law Allowing Children As Young As 12 Be Sentenced To Life In Prison

El Salvador’s president Nayib Bukele has passed a law allowing life sentences for children as young as 12 as part of the government’s measures to tackle gang violence in the country.

Since Bukele took power in 2019, his government has declared a state of emergency, allowing police to mass arrest more than 89,000 people under charges of gang membership or “terrorism”, often arbitrarily.

On March 11, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), an international panel of judges, said evidence of the government’s actions against thousands detained showed “reasonable grounds to conclude that crimes against humanity are being committed in the country.”

Judges said the government’s actions showed “the implementation of a deliberate policy carried out without effective institutional oversight.”

Evidence presented showed the government’s arrests often follow discriminatory profiling based on tattoos or skin color, according to the ICJ report. 

Reports have shown at least 8,000 people of those detained are innocent and at least 400 people, including children, have died in state custody.

Many of the people convicted are judged in mass trials with some taking months or even years after being arrested.

On Wednesday, April 15, Bukele signed a new law into effect, allowing authorities to sentence children aged 12 to 18 found guilty of homicide, rape and terrorism to life in prison. 

The law was approved by a majority of the Salvadoran Congress, which is controlled mainly by Bukele’s party, Nuevas Ideas.

Under the new law, criminal courts will be in charge of criminal cases involving minors.

An “obligatory review” process is meant to be implemented if a child is sentenced to life in prison only after the child has served at least 25 years in prison, according to DW. 

The UN has criticized the latest reform, saying it violates children’s rights, according to Reuters. 

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