Outrage and support trail El Salvador’s tough new policy targeting minors in serious crimes.

El Salvador has enacted a new law permitting authorities to impose life imprisonment on minors as young as 12 for serious offences such as homicide, terrorism, and rape.

The Salvadoran government released the legislation on Tuesday, with implementation scheduled to begin on April 26.
This development forms part of a broader set of strict policies aimed at curbing gang violence in the country. However, critics warn that such measures could lead to significant human rights violations.
Since March 2022, El Salvador has operated under a state of emergency that suspends certain civil liberties while expanding police and military powers. Initially intended to last 30 days, the emergency rule has been extended multiple times.
During this period, the government has carried out mass arrests and detentions, with over 90,000 people reportedly imprisoned.
According to Human Rights Watch, nearly 1.9 percent of the country’s population is currently incarcerated—one of the highest rates globally.
Some detainees have been held without formal charges, while others have faced mass trials, a system introduced in 2023 that allows up to 900 individuals to be tried simultaneously.
The provision allowing life sentences for minors was approved in March as part of a constitutional amendment championed by President Nayib Bukele. The legislative assembly, dominated by Bukele’s Nuevas Ideas party, backed the move.
Reacting on social media at the time, Bukele criticised opponents of the amendment, suggesting they were soft on violent crime.
“We shall see who supports this amendment, and who will dare to argue that the Constitution should continue to prohibit murderers and rapists from remaining in prison,” he wrote on March 17.
However, the law has drawn strong criticism from international organisations. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) expressed “deep concern” over the possibility of children receiving life sentences.
UNICEF warned that imprisonment could have severe long-term effects on the development of children and adolescents, adding that such measures are unlikely to effectively reduce crime.
In a joint statement with the Committee on the Rights of the Child, UNICEF stated that life sentences and excessively long detentions contradict international standards, which emphasise rehabilitation and reintegration for young offenders.
Although the new law removes certain legal protections for minors, it includes provisions for periodic sentence reviews and the possibility of supervised release.
Human rights groups have repeatedly urged the Salvadoran government to end the state of emergency and reconsider its anti-crime strategies, arguing they violate fundamental rights.
Last month, the International Group of Experts for the Investigation of Human Rights Violations under the State of Emergency in El Salvador (GIPES) released a report alleging that crimes against humanity had occurred over the past four years.
The report cited remarks attributed to President Bukele acknowledging that “at least 8,000 detainees were innocent.”
Jose Guevara, one of the report’s contributors, said the figures indicate a systematic pattern rather than isolated incidents.
“These are not isolated cases, but a policy in which crimes are committed on a large scale and in a systematic manner,” he said.