On 13 February, the President of El Salvador signed into law a bill that orders the transfer of children detained for “organised crime offences” to a separated section of adult prisons.
These new measures follow changes to the Juvenile Criminal Law in March 2022, that established prison sentences of up to 10 years for children ages 12 to 15 for “gang association” and up to 20 years for children ages 16 to 18, violating the guidance of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which recommends countries not reduce the minimum age of criminal responsibility “under any circumstances” and urges raising it to at least 14.
Human Rights Watch reports that since March 2022, over 3000 children have been detained, many of which have no apparent connection to criminal organisations, with many arrests being based solely on assumptions about a child based on appearance. Human Rights Watch has further found that detainees in adult prisons are cut off from the outside world and denied any meaningful legal resource. Prisoners face extreme overcrowding, torture and violence as well as severely limited access to food, water and medical care.