AIDESEP Statement: We reject the Peruvian Congress’ decision that seeks to criminalise Indigenous and civil society organisations

Statement originally published in Spanish by AIDESEP on 10 June 2024.

The Interethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Rainforest (AIDESEP), the main Indigenous organisation representing 2,439 communities, 109 federations and 9 regional organisations, expresses its concern and categorical rejection of the new attempt by the Congress of the Republic to criminalise, punish and restrict the work of civil society and Indigenous organisations in defence of fundamental rights.

Last week, the Foreign Affairs Commission approved, by majority, the opinion on Bills 6162, 6252, 7140, 7354, 7367 and 7505 of 2023 that seek to modify Law N°. 27692 - Law of creation of the Peruvian Agency for International Cooperation (APCI). This legislative initiative represents a great danger because it aims to arbitrarily sanction and restrict actions to promote and defend human rights by organisations that are part of international cooperation. In the face of this:

• We reject the opinion of the aforementioned Commission, chaired by the pro-Fujimori Alejandro Aguinaga, because it proposes regulatory changes that authorise the Peruvian Agency for International Cooperation to require the dissolution of Indigenous and civil society organisations for the mere fact of monitoring human rights violations committed by the State by act or omission. Congress intends to impose disproportionate administrative sanctions in order to nullify the defence actions of our organisations. We state that the legislative proposal represents a serious risk to the fundamental rights to freedom of association and assembly, expression and participation recognised in the Political Constitution, as it aims to criminalise and silence the organisations when we defend our positions for the protection of the rights of Indigenous peoples in the media.
• We warn that these bills propose that actions in defence of human rights coordinated with international cooperation that are considered by the government of the day as "risky" for "public order, social peace and the rule of law" should be criminalised, when currently these concepts are distorted by the State authorities to silence critical voices.
• We point out that this is another attempt to exercise political control and has been applied in anti-democratic regimes as a measure against organisations that denounce human rights abuses in order to suppress the fundamental rights to protest through peaceful social mobilisations.
• We demand that the Congress of the Republic immediately shelve these legislative proposals because, if they become law, they will be used to promote the abuse, arbitrariness and persecution of Indigenous and civil society organisations, as well as the stigmatisation of the defence of rights whenever we freely express our critical positions towards the governments in power when they are uncomfortable or discordant.
• We emphasise that there are currently sufficient mechanisms of supervision and transparency that are activated in the development of the activities of civil society organisations, not only by the State, but also by cooperation funds and donor countries; however, these cannot be distorted or used to criminalise, punish, persecute and stigmatise critical positions against State authorities because they would become acts typical of anti-democratic regimes.
• We warn that, as in previous governments, this represents a new blow that adds to the package of legislative measures against Indigenous rights and the Amazon with the sole purpose of attacking the collective life of the Amazonian peoples and our ancestral territories, such as the Anti-Forests Law and the bill that proposed the extinction of Indigenous reserves for peoples in voluntary isolation and initial contact.
• We hold the Congress and the Executive responsible for the actions that we will take as an Indigenous movement in the face of the permanent arbitrary measures that they have been adopting against the Amazonian peoples. From our territories, we will take the necessary measures at regional, national and international levels to defend Indigenous rights against any act of the powers that be which seek to silence and repress our voices and struggles.
• We call on international bodies such as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, among others, as well as national Indigenous organisations, the media and society in general to remain vigilant in the face of this new coup by Congress, which comes on top of other measures that threaten human rights and the defence of the Amazon.

We reject the citizens' gag law!