Peruvian President Dina Boluarte should veto a bill approved by Congress that would severely restrict the work of independent journalists and civil society organizations, Human Rights Watch said today.
On March 12, 2025, Congress passed a bill that would significantly expand the government's authority over organizations that receive foreign funding. The bill's vague and overbroad language would, in practice, allow the government to arbitrarily penalize groups that criticize its policies. This bill is part of a broader pattern of congressional actions aimed at weakening democratic institutions, obstructing investigations into human rights violations and organized crime, and undermining judicial independence. Under the Peruvian Constitution, President Boluarte has 15 days to veto the law after it is sent to her office for signing, which has yet to occur. If Boluarte lets the 15 days pass without signing or vetoing the law, then Congress signs it into law.
"The Peruvian Congress is following the footsteps of autocratic regimes that demonize and punish human rights groups and journalists that receive foreign funding," said Juanita Goebertus, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. "President Boluarte should veto this abusive law if she wants to demonstrate that she is not complicit in Congress' erosion of the rule of law."
The bill allows the government to object to and block projects that use foreign funds, grants it the authority to "ensure the correct use" of foreign funding, and suspend and eventually cancel the registration of groups "misusing [financial] resources." It provides that "misuse" includes using foreign funds to carry out "any administrative, judicial, or other action, in national or international instances, against the Peruvian state." This most likely would include bringing human rights cases against Peruvian authorities in national courts or before regional or universal human rights bodies.
The bill would require the government to publicly disclose the addresses as well as the "plans and projects" of groups that receive foreign funding. This is particularly concerning given that in recent years right-wing groups have repeatedly gathered outside the homes of journalists and the offices of human rights defenders in an effort to intimidate them.
The law comes at a time when the decision by US President Donald Trump to curtail foreign aid is affecting Peruvian nongovernmental organizations and independent media. From July 2022 to June 2023, Peru was the third-largest recipient of US foreign assistance in South America -surpassed only by Colombia and Ecuador - and the sixth-largest in Latin America and the Caribbean, receiving over US$240 million. Groups impacted by these cuts reportedly include some working to address food insecurity in vulnerable communities and others working on judicial independence.
Congress cited concerns about groups' improper "diversion of funds" as the main reason for passing the law. However, a report from Peruvian news outlet Epicentro TV revealed that, according to the Peruvian financial intelligence unit, there were no suspicious transaction reports involving nongovernmental organizations between 2010 and 2020. Instead, most suspicious transactions were linked to illegal mining and organized crime. Congress has actually reduced government pressure on these activities through a range of laws.
"If Congress cared about money laundering, it would go after illegal mining and organized crime groups in Peru," Goebertus said. "By passing legislation to undermine investigations into organized crime they have done exactly the opposite."
President Boluarte has not vetoed many of several bills that undermine the rule of law and democracy in Peru. Among them, she did not veto a July 2024 bill to establish a statute of limitations on war crimes and crimes against humanity occurring before 2003. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights had ordered that its discussion be halted, pending further analysis by the court, and prosecutors said the law could jeopardize some 600 criminal cases concerning abuses committed during Peru's armed conflict (1980-2000) by the army and the Maoist guerilla group Shining Path.
Boluarte also did not veto a July 2024 bill to narrow the definition of "organized crime." The bill made it harder for prosecutors to investigate related offenses, including corruption and extortion, and left investigative searches largely ineffective.
Under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the American Convention on Human Rights, which Peru has ratified, laws may only limit the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of association when necessary to achieve a narrow range of legitimate goals, such as to protect national security or the rights of others. Even then, any restrictions must be proportionate to the interest to be protected and they must be the least intrusive measures capable of achieving the desired aim.
The bill approved by Congress includes multiple overbroad provisions that are inconsistent with international human rights law and could easily be used to arbitrarily undercut the work of independent civil society and media groups and affect their access to funding, Human Rights Watch said.
"States can regulate civil society organizations in order to guard against financial malfeasance," Goebertus said. "But this law goes much further and could easily be used to punish critics and hinder the work of independent journalists and human rights groups."
