Paraguay: Veto Anti Civil Society Law

Without convening sufficient public consultation and ignoring the international and national cry of human rights defenders and organisms, the Paraguayan Congress approved on 9 October 2024 the bill “that establishes the control, transparency and accountability of non-profit organisations”. On October 22, it was sent to the President of the Republic, who has 12 days to enact or veto the bill. If enacted, Paraguay will endorse highly restrictive conditions for civil society organisations in the country. 

The bill approved by the Congress is in many respects contrary to the international human rights treaties to which Paraguay is a state party, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the American Convention on Human Rights which guarantee the rights to freedom of association, expression, privacy, and participate in public affairs.

One of the main points of concern about the adopted text is the lack of precision and clarity about its scope and implementation. It treats organisations that receive public or private funds without distinction, subjecting them to the same registration and state control requirements. Furthermore, without justifying the need to introduce these new restrictions, the bill ignores the existing broad national regulatory framework that currently allows the Paraguayan state to guarantee the transparency and accountability necessary for non-profit organisations to operate.

The broad scope and vagueness of the provisions contained in the bill, including detailed reporting obligations on the use and destination of resources received, also threatens the independence necessary for civil society organisations to operate, and compromises the privacy, intimacy and security of their members and the people whose rights they seek to defend. 

Finally, the bill establishes sanctions for non-compliance not only for legal entities but also for natural persons in charge of the management and administration of the organisations without clearly specifying in which cases each sanction would be applied. The imposition of these sanctions without the necessary clarity and due process violates the principle of legality and the rights to freedom of association and expression, which should under no circumstances be subject to restrictions that are disproportionate or so onerous as to jeopardise the right itself.

To sum up, the bill poses a serious threat to the civic space in Paraguay. This regulatory framework, if applied in practice, would have a chilling effect that would inhibit people from freely exercising their human rights including the rights to association and expression.