El Salvador approves life sentence for minors convicted of murder, rape

SAN SALVADOR, Mar 27 (AFP): El Salvador approved a bill on Thursday allowing courts to sentence minors to life in prison for rape, murder or terrorism, the latest push in President Nayib Bukele's crackdown on gangs.

Bukele, who has called himself the "world's coolest dictator," has filled El Salvador's prisons with thousands of suspected gang members in a sweep that has raised allegations of major human rights abuses.

The Latin American country passed a constitutional reform earlier this month to allow life imprisonment for "murderers, rapists and terrorists." The maximum prison term was previously 60 years.