Guinea-Bissau: the shadow of a political assassination

“I kept asking him to keep a low profile, so things wouldn’t escalate to this point,” said Dulce, the wife of Vigario Luis Balanta, a Guinean rapper and activist who was beaten to death in March 2026.

Political assassination? The case of rapper and activist Balanta

On the night her husband, Vigario Luis Balanta, was killed, Dulce thought he had either gone into hiding at a friend’s house or been arrested. The following morning, however, she became alarmed when he failed to answer her calls. The political movement Balanta founded in 2023, Po’ di Terra, was deeply shaken by his killing, prompting the movement’s new leaders to go underground to protect themselves and try to put an end to the cycle of coups and violence that has plagued Guinea-Bissau since it gained independence from Portugal in 1974.

Balanta was a rapper and activist. In his songs, he described the difficulties of growing up in a poor country with few opportunities and a highly unstable political environment, while also openly criticizing the military government of General Horta Inta-a, which seized power in November 2025. “He was the only person who had the courage and audacity to speak openly about political and social issues,” said Emilio Lima Betungut, a childhood friend of Balanta and a member of the Po’ di Terra political movement.

Vigario Luis Balanta’s body was found on March 31, 2026 in the Ndam area, about 30 km from Bissau. The UN expressed shock at Balanta’s brutal killing, which took place against a backdrop of a progressive shrinking of civic and democratic space following the November 2025 coup. During this period, the authorities arrested opposition figures, raided radio stations, and banned public protests and other forms of dissent. The UN also called for urgent and impartial investigations to identify those responsible and for the restoration of the constitutional order that existed before the coup.

Following Balanta’s death, hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets of Bissau, demanding justice. According to the protesters, this was not an ordinary killing but a political assassination. “Vigario was killed, that is clear, clear to everyone. Vigario was assassinated. We are now protesting peacefully simply to demand justice,” said Nielson Antonio Mache, one of the demonstrators.

Persecuted journalists: repression in Guinea-Bissau

In 2021, civil society activists and journalists critical of Embaló’s government, well before the military junta led by Horta Inta-a came to power, reported harassment, arbitrary detention and physical assaults. One particularly serious case involved the attempted kidnapping and assault of journalist Adão Ramalho on March 12, 2021. Ramalho was beaten, punched and kicked, until the intervention of several passers-by forced the attackers to flee. A few days later, the journalist filed a complaint with the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which was subsequently reviewed by the CPJ (Committee to Protect Journalists). In his complaint, Ramalho identified one of the attackers as Yaya Camara, a member of the country’s presidential guard. Another similar incident took place on March 9, 2021, when four unidentified men kidnapped and assaulted journalist António Aly Silva in Bissau. Silva believed the attack was linked to an article he had written criticizing President Embaló’s government. “This attempt to kidnap another journalist in Guinea-Bissau shows that journalists perceived as critical of President Umaro Sissoco Embaló are working under enormous risk,” said Angela Quintal, the CPJ’s Africa program coordinator.

What changed with the military coup of November 2025, therefore, was not the pressure placed on journalists and civil society activists, as cases of this kind had already occurred before, but rather the systematic nature of the repression. The UN itself has described the situation in the country as highly concerning, including in light of the suspension of radio stations. Post-coup repression became apparent from the outset, when Horta Inta-a’s military junta banned protests and strikes on December 1 ahead of an ECOWAS visit. In the following weeks, protesters took to the streets of Bissau to denounce the coup and demand the release of opposition leaders. Opposition candidate Fernando Dias said that the November 2025 coup had derailed an election he was on course to win. On November 26, 2025, the military seized power shortly before the electoral commission was due to announce the results of a closely contested presidential election between Fernando Dias and Embaló. The opposition has argued that the coup was intended to prevent Embaló from facing a potential electoral defeat, although this has not been established as fact and remains an allegation made by his opponents.

A targeted killing: the urgent need for justice

In light of this context, Balanta’s death can be seen not as an isolated incident, but as a possible part of a broader effort to silence opponents of Horta Inta-a’s military government. The military junta has promised an investigation to identify those responsible as quickly as possible, but to this day, doubts that political motives may lie behind Balanta’s death remain well founded.

Since the November 2025 coup, incidents of assault and harassment targeting activists and journalists have continued to occur. They no longer appear to be isolated cases, but rather part of a broader climate of repression. The military coup not only disrupted a democratic electoral process, but also restricted civil society’s participation, as these incidents create fear and intimidation, further shrinking the civic and democratic space in a country that has long been plagued by alarming political instability.

Guinea-Bissau’s great challenge today is not only to restore the constitutional order that existed before the coup and ensure a democratic electoral process, but also to shed light on the attacks against political opponents that have taken place in recent years and ensure that those affected receive effective justice.