HUMAN rights groups in Peru have condemned a new law approved by Congress that imposes sweeping restrictions on civil society organisations and deals a blow to anti-corruption efforts.

The new law modifies legislation passed in 2002 that established the Peruvian Agency for International Co-operation and regulates the oversight of international aid. The latest measure expands the agency’s powers in ways that critics say threaten the independence and work of non-profit organisations.

Supporters of the decision say it boosts transparency, but critics see it as a way to put pressure on human rights groups.

Carlos Rivera, director of the Legal Defence Institute, a Peruvian human rights advocacy NGO, said on Thursday that the new law created “a climate of repression and persecution.”

He added: “It’s obviously one of the most unconstitutional things, perhaps the most unconstitutional, passed in Peru since the 1995 amnesty laws.”

Those laws shielded military and police personnel from prosecution for human rights abuses committed during the government’s war against Maoist guerillas in the 1980s and ’90s.

The legislation was later declared unconstitutional for violating the right to justice and breaching international human rights standards.

Mr Rivera warned on Thursday that the new laws would deny many people access to justice.

Peru’s government did not respond to requests for comment.