Peruvian rights groups on Thursday expressed outrage over the legislature's adoption of a bill that prohibits NGOs from taking legal action against the state for human rights abuses.
The bill adopted Wednesday by Congress, controlled by right-wing parties, makes it a "serious offence" for NGOs to "advise, assist or finance" lawsuits against the state. It also increases scrutiny of NGO's foreign funding sources.
The government has two weeks to enact the bill or send it back to Congress with proposed amendments.
Promsex, an NGO that defends women's sexual and reproductive rights, blasted what it called the "anti-NGO law" as "another blow to democracy and human rights in Peru."
"We reject this law, which hinders access to justice and perpetuates impunity," it said.
The Press and Society Institute, a media rights NGO, compared it "to legislation approved by authoritarian regimes" across Latin America.
Peru's Congress is on a mission to increase state oversight over NGOs, which have drawn the ire of conservatives for bringing cases against the state for alleged human rights abuses.
One such case before the Inter-American Court for Human Rights concerns Celia Ramos, a woman who died after undergoing forced sterilisation in the 1990s as part of a state campaign.
Congress president Eduardo Salhuana said the bill sought to ensure that international development aid reaches its intended beneficiaries and is not used by NGOs to take actions against the state.
Civil society groups argue it is unconstitutional because it gives the government de facto veto power over the workings of associations.
Peru already has a state agency in charge of supervising the activities of NGOs and ensuring transparency in their use of funding.
– TIMES/AFP
