El Salvador issues first life sentence in femicide case
The man was convicted of fatally stabbing a neighbor whom he had repeatedly harassed, according to prosecutors. The sentence was handed down Monday, just 42 days after the crime.
"Just 42 days after the crime, the Attorney General's Office secured the first life sentence for aggravated femicide," the office said in a post on X.
Eduardo Mauricio Urbina García became the second person sentenced to life in prison in El Salvador under constitutional and criminal reforms backed by President Nayib Bukele's government that took effect in April 2026. Three days earlier, the country's first life sentence was handed down to a man convicted of murder.
The Criminal Court of Santa Ana imposed the sentence after Urbina García entered an expedited proceeding and was found guilty of killing 32-year-old Jazmín Ramírez.
Ramírez was killed Aug. 3 while she was in her apartment. Urbina García, her neighbor, entered the residence and fatally stabbed her, local newspaper La Prensa Gráfica reported.
El Salvador's Congress approved life imprisonment earlier this year for people convicted of murder, rape and terrorism. Previously, the maximum sentence was 60 years in prison, with mechanisms allowing for sentence reductions.
In April, Bukele pushed for and signed an extension of life imprisonment to minors as young as 12 who commit murder or rape or participate in acts of terrorism. The change is part of the security policies promoted by his government.
Report: Iran committed crimes against humanity during 2022 uprising
The report "details how Iranian authorities committed the crimes against humanity of murder, torture, enforced disappearance, imprisonment, rape and persecution on political, gender, ethnic and religious grounds in order to crush the uprising," the organization said. It released the document on the fourth anniversary of the start of the protests.
"The extensive evidence gathered and analyzed in our report leaves no doubt: Iran authorities ... waged a widespread and systematic attack against a civilian population demanding dignity, human rights and fundamental political change, pursuant to a state policy of using legal force to obliterate dissent," said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International's secretary general.
The mass protests began after Mahsa Amini, 22, died in Iranian police custody after she was arrested for allegedly violating the country's hijab laws. Authorities met the protests with force -- one leaked order told police to "respond mercilessly and go as far as causing death."
"Our report also unveils how crimes against humanity in Iran are sustained by an architecture of impunity built into the country's constitutional, legislative, political and frameworks," Callamard said. "The horrifying result has been intensifying cycles of mass protest killings, culminating in the massacres of thousands of protestors within just 48 hours" on Jan. 8 and 9, 2026.
The report, "Architects of Atrocities: State Machinery Orchestrating Crimes Against Humanity in Iran's 2022 Woman Life Freedom Uprising," is more than 1,000 pages long. The organization also released "Lives Cut Brutally Short," a report detailing the deaths of 377 protesters and bystanders, 56 of them children.
Research for the report included interviews with 270 people and analysis of more than 2,000 videos and documents, the organization said.
Callamard called on the United Nations to address the events detailed in the report and also noted that it is published "at a time when people in Iran are also facing the devastating consequences of unlawful attacks by the [United States] and Israel."
"Amnesty International unequivocally opposes violations of international law by all parties and rejects any attempt to instrumentalize the suffering of victims of human rights violations in Iran to justify unlawful attacks that inflict further civilian harm," Callamard said.
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South African police find ninth woman's body near Johannesburg
The latest body was found half-naked on the side of a road in Dawn Park and wrapped in a sheet, police said. The victim's identity has not been released.
The bodies of eight other women have been found across Ekurhuleni, a major urban area of South Africa's largest city, since July. Several were found injured and partially clothed. However, police say they have not determined if the deaths are connected or if a serial killer was responsible.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has said "no stone will be left unturned" in finding those responsible for the deaths, adding that they were "causing fear and uncertainty in our communities."
Also Thursday, the family of Gracious Nkomo, 28, identified her as the third victim whose body was found on the side of a road in Kempton Park on Sept. 10.
A South African Police Service spokesperson said Nkomo's body was discovered partially clothed.
The victims also include Elizabeth "Tsonso" Moselakgomo, 38, who disappeared last week after going on a run in the afternoon. Her body was found three days later behind a Kempton Park hotel.
Two other victims were identified as Itumeleng Kekana, who went missing in July, and Dineo Evelyn Motapane, 38, who was discovered Tuesday by the side of a road in KwaThema.
The first body was discovered July 15 in Kempton Park. A suspect was arrested two days later and is still in custody but has not been linked to the other killings.
The other bodies were found in August and this month in Kempton Park, Olifantsfontein, Clayville and KwaThema.
Authorities have offered a reward of 400,000 South African rand ($24,000) for information leading to arrests in the killings.
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