City Bar Statement Expressing Concern Over New Peruvian Law Restricting Civil Society Organizations

In a new statement, the New York City Bar Association expressed deep concern about recently approved legislation in Peru that restricts activities of CSOs and threatens fundamental rights, including freedom of association, expression, access to justice, and the right to seek international protection. The law “establishes mechanisms of prior control, censorship, and disproportionate sanctions to undermine the autonomy and independence of civil society in Peru,” the statement says.

The statement urges Peruvian President Dina Boluarte and Congress to review the proposed legislation to ensure protection of fundamental freedoms of association, expression and access to justice, and to refrain from undermining an active civil society and its role as a check on governmental abuses in Peru.

On March 12, 2025, Peru’s Congress approved a set of bills amending Law 27692, which regulates the Peruvian Agency for International Cooperation (APCI, for its name in Spanish). According to its sponsors, the new legislation seeks to enhance the APCI’s work and promote transparency and oversight of resources received by entities engaged in international technical cooperation. During congressional discussions, two members of Congress argued that the existing legal framework contained loopholes that allow some NGOs to operate without sufficient transparency, and one alleged that some NGOs were misusing international cooperation funds for personal gain.

Various civil society organizations, legal experts, and international human rights bodies have warned that the new law imposes excessive and unnecessary controls on NGOs, threatening their autonomy and ability to operate freely. The reform severely restricts access to justice, particularly for Indigenous, rural, and marginalized communities that rely on support from NGOs to defend their rights. The vague and arbitrary notion of “national development” in the new legislation further enables the State to use it as a justification to selectively silence dissent and weaken the role of civil society as a counterweight to government power.

“The recently approved amendments to the APCI Law raise serious concerns regarding the disproportionate restrictions imposed on civic space and the exercise of fundamental rights in Peru,” the statement says. “Several provisions of the reform risk violating the rights to access justice, free association, and free expression, with a disproportionate impact on marginalized and vulnerable populations.

The statement outlines numerous concerns about the new legislation’s potential to undermine these fundamental rights, and cites international human rights standards on the right to freedom of association and the internal affairs of civil society organizations.

“Independence and non-interference in the internal affairs of organizations are essential elements for the full realization of freedom of association,” it says.

The statement calls on President Boluarte to veto the legislation and “initiate an inclusive dialogue aimed at developing a regulatory framework that both ensures transparency and oversight and protects fundamental rights.

Any future legislation must refrain from imposing burdensome requirements on NGOs, infringing on the rights of victims of human rights violations to access justice, or endangering the work of human rights defenders,” it says.

The City Bar’s Inter-American Affairs Committee also signed on to the statement. The statement is available in Spanish.

Read the full statement here:

Statement Expressing Concern Over the New Peruvian Law Restricting Civil Society Organizations