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The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, promulgated a constitutional reform last Tuesday that allows the imposition of life imprisonment on minors starting at age 12 for serious crimes such as homicide, femicide, sexual assault, and terrorism.
The Legislative Assembly approved the reform on March 17 with 59 votes in favor out of 60 possible, without prior debate or committee study, and its publication in the Official Gazette confirmed the effective date, which will be April 26.
The reform amends the second clause of Article 27 of the Salvadoran Constitution, which had explicitly prohibited life sentences since 1983.
The new text states that "life sentences will only be imposed on murderers, rapists, and terrorists."
Before the reform, the maximum sentence for minors aged 12 to 16 was 10 years in prison, and for those over 16, it was 15 to 20 years.
With the new legal framework, a 12-year-old child convicted as the perpetrator or accomplice of these crimes could spend the rest of their life in prison.
The initiative was presented by the Minister of Justice and Security, Gustavo Villatoro, and was directly promoted by Bukele.
The constitutional reforms were accompanied by changes to several laws: the Penal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code, the Comprehensive Special Law for a Violence-Free Life for Women, the Special Law Against Acts of Terrorism, the Juvenile Criminal Law, and the Organic Judicial Law.
Among the most significant changes is the conversion of juvenile courts into criminal courts, which will be responsible for adjudicating cases that involve life imprisonment.
The reform also includes a mandatory review mechanism of the sentence after 25 years of serving time, which will assess the rehabilitation of the convicted person and the possibility of supervised release.
With this measure, El Salvador becomes the ninth country in Latin America to have life imprisonment.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and UNICEF expressed their "deep concern" on Friday regarding the approval of these reforms, indicating that the prolonged detention of minors is "harmful to adolescents."
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