Peru’s NGOs expressed their anger over a bill that seeks to tighten control over civil society organizations. The groups say the law would hamper their ability to defend human rights.

Rights groups in Peru on Thursday strongly criticized a controversial reform to the country’s international cooperation law that imposes broad restrictions on non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including prohibiting them from taking legal action against the state for human rights abuses.

Peru’s Congress, which is controlled by right-wing parties, adopted the bill on Wednesday.

What will the bill do?

Provisions in the bill make it a “serious offense” for civil society organizations to “advise, assist or finance” lawsuits against the state.

It also increases scrutiny of foreign aid sources for NGOs.

How did NGOs react?

Rights groups have sounded alarm, saying that the legislation could hamstring efforts to defend vulnerable communities and fight corruption.

“We reject this law, which hinders access to justice and perpetuates impunity,”  the AFP news agency quoted Promsex, an NGO that defends women’s sexual and reproductive rights, as saying.

The Legal Defense Institute, a human rights advocacy group, said in a statement that the new legal framework constitutes a serious violation of the right to defense and to effective judicial protection.

“The slogan behind this law is a single one: to harass and persecute NGOs and to silence those who defend human rights,” it said.

Others like the Press and Society Institute, a media rights organization, likened the bill “to legislation approved by authoritarian regimes” across Latin America.

Who is in favor of the legislation?

Supporters of the bill say that it boosts transparency.

Right-wing congressman Alejandro Munante mounted a sharp attack on NGOs, alleging that they “are not accountable to anyone, do not pay taxes and set the country’s political agenda.”

Peru’s government now has two weeks to enact the bill or send it back to Congress with proposed amendments.