Amnesty International has warned that several countries across the Americas are increasingly adopting restrictive legal frameworks designed to weaken, control, or even dismantle civil society organizations. In its new report, the organization highlights how between 2024 and 2025, Ecuador, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela introduced or reformed laws that impose disproportionate controls on civil society groups, directly limiting their ability to support communities, defend human rights, operate freely, and access funding. Amnesty describes this as part of a troubling regional pattern in which so-called “anti-NGO laws” are being used to silence critical voices and strengthen authoritarian practices.
According to the report, these legal changes are often preceded by campaigns that stigmatize civil society organizations and human rights defenders. Authorities, lawmakers, and their allies have reportedly portrayed such groups as “foreign agents,” “internal enemies,” or “anti-patriotic,” creating public distrust and a climate of fear. In some cases, including Paraguay, this rhetoric has also included racist and misogynistic elements, contributing to intimidation, self-censorship, and shrinking civic space. Amnesty notes that these laws were often passed quickly, without meaningful public consultation, despite existing regulations already being sufficient to address concerns such as transparency or financial oversight.
The organization’s analysis found that many of these laws rely on vague and ambiguous terms such as “public order,” “political activity,” or “social interest,” allowing authorities to interpret and enforce them selectively against organizations seen as critical of the government. In several cases, new administrative registration systems make it difficult for groups to legally operate unless they obtain state approval under unclear or opaque conditions. Amnesty argues that these mechanisms effectively function as prior authorization systems, which are inconsistent with international human rights standards on freedom of association.
Another major concern raised in the report is the imposition of excessive and repetitive reporting obligations. Civil society organizations are being required to submit detailed financial, operational, and administrative information, often duplicating existing compliance requirements. Amnesty says these burdens divert already limited staff time and resources away from essential work such as legal aid, community support, environmental defense, gender-based violence services, and advocacy. In Venezuela, for example, opaque registration procedures, demands for sensitive information, and threats of sanctions have reportedly made it increasingly difficult for human rights organizations to function.
Restrictions on funding are also described as a central tool of control. Several countries have introduced measures that limit access to international cooperation, impose abusive taxes, or require prior authorization to receive funds. Amnesty notes that in El Salvador, such measures have affected the financial sustainability of projects focused on human rights, gender equality, environmental protection, and Indigenous communities. In some cases, banks and donors have also become more cautious, conditioning relationships on compliance with restrictive laws, which has led to reduced or cancelled programmes serving vulnerable populations.
The report further warns that these laws create serious safety risks by forcing organizations to disclose detailed information about donors, staff, and beneficiaries without adequate data protection safeguards. In hostile political environments, this can expose human rights defenders, LGBTIQ+ people, survivors of violence, and Indigenous communities to surveillance, harassment, and persecution. Amnesty also points to disproportionate sanctions written into these frameworks, including heavy fines, frozen bank accounts, confiscation of assets, suspension or cancellation of legal status, and even criminal penalties. In Peru, for instance, a civil society organization could reportedly be dissolved simply for legally representing victims of human rights violations in cases against the state. In Nicaragua, similar measures have already contributed to the mass closure of thousands of organizations.
Amnesty stresses that the impact of these laws extends far beyond the organizations themselves. Civil society groups play a vital role in documenting abuses, supporting victims, defending Indigenous territories, promoting transparency, and monitoring democratic processes. When they are silenced or dismantled, communities lose essential support systems, representation, and pathways to justice. Human rights defenders interviewed for the report described worsening conditions, including emotional exhaustion, reduced activities, self-censorship, forced migration, and in some cases exile, as a result of sustained harassment and legal pressure.
Concluding its analysis, Amnesty International says the laws reviewed do not meet international standards on freedom of association, freedom of expression, privacy, or the right to defend human rights. Rather than improving transparency, the organization argues, they contribute to the erosion of civic space and reinforce authoritarian governance. Amnesty is urging governments across the region to repeal or amend laws that violate freedom of association, end stigmatizing rhetoric against civil society, ensure that any regulation is legal, necessary, and proportionate, allow access to national and international funding without undue restrictions, and stop criminalizing the legitimate work of human rights defenders. It has also called on the Financial Action Task Force and the donor community to reject the misuse of financial regulations as a pretext for restricting civil society.
