The Congress of El Salvador, with a pro-government majority, reformed the Constitution on Tuesday to endorse life sentences in the Central American country for those found guilty of homicide, rape and terrorism, in the midst of a offensive against gangs that is about to complete four years of validity.
The deputies approved the change that allows a person’s stay in prison to be extended for more than 30 years even if they have a sentence of more than 100 yearsas happens in Argentina, Peru and Chile.
“We will see who supports this reform and who will dare to defend that the Constitution continues to prohibit murderers and rapists from remaining in prison“wrote President Nayib Bukele before approval.
The reform of the Constitution occurred almost a week after a group of international lawyers indicated that there are “reasonable bases” to believe that crimes against humanity are being committed during the controversial state of emergency, among them, arbitrary imprisonment, torture, forced disappearance, persecution and murder.
The Government denies the accusations. Since the end of March 2022, El Salvador has remained under an emergency regime, which has suspended some fundamental guarantees and has allowed security forces to arrest more than 90,000 people, as well as drastically reduce the number of homicides in the once violent country.
