US EditionEl Salvador Congress Approves Constitutional Reform Allowing Life Sentences
The amendment, approved 59-1 by El Salvador's Congress, raises the maximum penalty from 60 years, amid ongoing detentions of over 90,000 people in the anti-gang crackdown.
- On March 17, 2026, the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador approved a constitutional amendment allowing life imprisonment for murderers, rapists, and terrorists with 59 lawmakers supporting and one opposing.
- Extended repeatedly, the emergency has enabled mass arrests by security forces and led to around 91,300 detainees under detention measures extended nearly four years.
- Human rights groups say prisoners face mass trials and lawyers lose track of detainees, with about 500 detainee deaths at the Detention Center Against Terrorism in Tecololuca.
- The amendment removes the constitutional amendment removing ban on life sentences, raises the maximum above the current penal-code cap of 60 years, and requires publication and penal-code adjustments with ratification slated next week.
- Critics warn this deepens concerns about checks and balances after earlier constitutional changes, including the removal of presidential term limits, amid international scrutiny of detentions and targeted critics.
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Life Sentences Now the Price of Gang Life in El Salvador
Key Points — El Salvador’s legislature approved a constitutional amendment allowing life imprisonment for convicted murderers, rapists, and terrorists — overturning a longstanding ban — with 59 of 60 votes in favor — The reform was introduced and voted within three hours, with no committee study or floor debate, and must be ratified in a […] The post Life Sentences Now the Price of Gang Life in El Salvador appeared first on The Rio Times.
By Merlin Delcid, CNN en Español. People convicted of homicide, rape, or terrorism in El Salvador could spend the rest of their lives in prison. This is stipulated in the constitutional reform approved Tuesday by the Legislative Assembly. At the request of Nayib Bukele's government, the deputies approved, with 59 out of 60 votes in favor, a reform to the Constitution that allows for life imprisonment, which until now was prohibited. This is the …
The Government of El Salvador, led by President Nayib Bukele, has taken a further step in its hard-handed anti-crime policy on Wednesday by approving a constitutional reform that allows for the application of life imprisonment for serious crimes. The measure, endorsed by a large majority in the Legislative Assembly (with 59 votes in favour and only one against), marks a historic change in the country’s penal system, where until now this type of …
The goal is that "those who belong to gangs, commit homicides and feminicides and are rapists will never step on our streets again."More information: The Trump Administration denies that El Salvador is a dictatorship and supports Bukele's constitutional reform
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