El Salvador to jail gang suspects without trial

Tens of thousands of suspected gang members arrested under an internationally criticized crackdown in El Salvador will be detained without trial until at least 2027, after lawmakers approved an extension Friday.

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Over 80,000 Salvadorans have been detained -- some of whom opposition figures maintain are innocent -- since gang-busting President Nayib Bukele declared a state of emergency in 2022 that allowed arrests without warrants.

The Legislative Assembly, which has 57 members of Bukele’s ruling party and three from the opposition, approved a reform on Friday to a law regulating investigations into organized crime.

The approval came just 10 days before a two-year deadline ran out for charges to be filed for the imprisoned detainees.

One of the provisions of the reform said the Attorney General’s office “will bring charges against the organized crime and its members... within a maximum period of 24 months,” while also allowing for a 12-month extension.

Bukele’s hardline approach to El Salvador’s powerful gangs has made him one of the world’s most domestically popular leaders, even as human rights defenders sound the alarm over arbitrary arrests and growing authoritarianism.