The Approval Of Amendments To The “APCI” Law Seriously Affects Freedom Of Association In Peru: UN Expert

GENEVA (17 April 2025) – A UN expert* expressed serious concern about the approval of amendments to the law concerning the Peruvian Agency for International Cooperation (APCI), as well as statements against Peruvian civil society organisations made at the event of its signature and ratification.

“The proposed amendments to the APCI Law create risks of undue interference in the structure and internal functioning of non-governmental organizations (NGOs),” said Gina Romero, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of peaceful assembly and of association.

A group of experts wrote to the Peruvian Government on 10 June 2024 (OL PER 4/2024), indicating that the amendments to the APCI Law – if approved in its current form, including the ambiguity in its provisions – would have serious implications for human rights, particularly the right to freedom of association, and would move Peru away from fulfilling its international commitments.

“The modifications to the law would prevent organisations, including human rights defenders, from advancing national and international advocacy actions, which could lead to an increase in impunity in the country”, the expert said.

In their communication, the experts expressed concern that the amendment to the law unduly restrict the freedom to seek, receive and use national or international financial resources – an integral part of the right to freedom of association – and impose requirements and sanctions that are disproportionate and contrary to international standards and constitutional provisions, such as the one stating that everyone has the right to associate without prior authorisation and in accordance with the law.

“The manner in which the Government announced the signing and approval of the amendments is worrying,” the expert said, describing an unusual event in which progress in transparency was wrongly equated with undue and excessive control of cooperation and non-governmental organisations, severely restricting the right to freedom of association.

The Special Rapporteur urged Peruvian authorities to refrain from stigmatising non-governmental organisations with narratives that associate them with the promotion of hatred, against the well-being of the nation and national unity, and with acts of manipulation and an ideological agenda contrary to the common good.

“The ambiguity of the measures could distort the legitimate objective pursued and violate the predictability required by international standards for all restrictive measures,” the expert said.

The Special Rapporteur on freedom of peaceful assembly and of association has stressed that the use of narratives that stigmatise the action of civil society and social movements, destroying their reputations and delegitimising them in the eyes of society, is a global trend that affects civic space and heralds authoritarianism.

“Governments must avoid any action that creates a hostile environment for the exercise of freedom of peaceful assembly, association and expression, including generically associating the work of NGOs and other associations with terrorist financing, money laundering, national destabilisation processes, unethical or immoral behavior, among others,” the expert said.

The Special Rapporteur on freedom of peaceful assembly and of association raised specific concerns about the amendments twice with the Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and once with the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, in meetings held during her academic visits in Lima in 2024 and 2025.

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