El Salvador criminal law reforms that violate children's rights – lawyer

The latest criminal law reforms in El Salvador, which expand punishment against minors, violate children's rights, said Amnesty International on Thursday. The change, which was approved on February 12, enables young people to be transferred to adult prisons for organized crimes, and further access to the probation is eliminated in contradiction to the standards of youth jurisdiction.

The reforms revised the youthful criminal law, the prison law and the laws against organized crimes and enabled the authorities to arrest children aged 12 years since March 2022. According to amnesty, more than 84,000 constipation, which most popular, in the emergency station, and almost 300, were hundreds of torture, and 300 deaths.

Ana Piquer, Americas Director at Amnesty, condemned the reforms and explained:

Since the statement of the state of emergency in March 2022, the government of El Salvador has reduced the proper procedural guarantees and normalized mass instruments with inadequate evidence. The reforms that came into force on February 22nd institutionalize the deprivation of freedom as the only reaction of the state, including children, a clear violation of international human rights standards. The use of the legislative to consolidate a model of unchecked repression shows that the emergency rule is no longer a temporary measure, but a permanent state strategy.

According to the right-wing group, these changes are a violation of the UN Convention on the rights of the child and the Beijing rules, which prescribe a base based on rehabilitation base for minors and not for a punishment. The reforms also allow people under the age of 21 in adult prisons to protect themselves from violence or access to education.

According to Human Rights Watch, almost 3,000 children have been convicted since 2022, often due to inadequate evidence or denominational statements. Amnesty said that these latest reforms formalized mass deportation strategies, judicial supervision and lack of consideration for the rule of law. “The reforms that came into force on February 22nd institutionalizes freedom as the only answer to the state, including children, a clear violation of international human rights standards,” warned Piquer.