El Salvador Issues First Life Sentence in Femicide Case
The ruling follows April reforms that allowed life terms for severe crimes and comes 42 days after the killing, prosecutors said.
- A court in Salvador sentenced a 39-year-old man to life in prison for aggravated femicide, marking the first time in the history of the Republic that such a penalty has been imposed.
- Authorities announced the verdict occurred "Just 42 days after the crime," after Eduardo was found guilty of stabbing his neighbor to death in Santa Ana following persistent harassment.
- Previously, the maximum prison sentence was 60 years, but legislators approved reforms in April allowing life imprisonment for severe crimes, including femicide, to combat insecurity.
- Under a state of emergency, President Bukele has overseen a war on gangs resulting in the imprisonment of more than 90,000 people and reduced homicide rates.
- Rights activists and NGOs have raised concerns about human rights violations amid the crackdown, including the Terrorism Confinement Center mega-prison inaugurated in 2023.
19 Articles
19 Articles
A Salvadoran court imposed the first sentence of life imprisonment for femicide since the maximum penalty was incorporated into legislation after the constitutional reform passed in March by Congress.
The Congress, dominated by the ruling party, abolished in April the constitutional ban on life imprisonment, so it can now be applied to those convicted of murder, rape and terrorism.
El Salvador Hands Down First Life Sentence for Feminicide
Key Facts — What happened. A Santa Ana court sentenced a man to life in prison for the aggravated feminicide of his neighbor. — How big. It is El Salvador’s first life sentence handed down specifically for aggravated feminicide. — The reform. Congress amended El Salvador’s constitution in April 2026, ending a decades-old ban on […]
The Congress, dominated by the ruling party, eliminated in April the constitutional prohibition of life imprisonment, so that it can now be applied to those convicted of murder, rape and terrorism. Until then the maximum sentence was 60 years in prison, with mechanisms for reducing sentence. Then, Bukele had passed a rule that extended punishment to minors who committed murders, rapes or participated in terrorism. The prosecution achieved "the f…
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