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.

Over 80,000 Salvadorans have been detained -- some of whom opposition figures and human rights defenders 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 on Friday a reform 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.

The government accuses the

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