Vicar Balanta
Leader of the Revolutionary Movement “Pó di Terra”, who positioned himself at the forefront of the fight against the allegedly staged coup d’état, was found dead this Tuesday.
The association “Pó di Terra” accused the self-styled Military High Command and the Government of Guinea-Bissau for kidnapping, torture and murder of its secretary general, Vicar Balantathe organization announced in a statement issued this Thursday.
In the document, the organization of Guineans in Portugal declared that this crime demonstrates the “character (…) of war against the people” by the regime and its militias, attributing to the current authorities the “full political and moral responsibility” for what happened.
Vigário Luís Balanta, aged 35, was leader of the Revolutionary Movement “Pó di Terra”, a Guinean civil society organization, made up essentially of young people who took a stand against the military led last November, and which has demanded the publication of the results of the legislative and presidential elections held in the same month.
Vigário Balanta actively participated in organizing a popular protest at the end of December, calling for the return of constitutional order.
The leader’s body was found on Tuesday, in a deserted place, in the suburbs of Nhacra, 30 kilometers from the capital, Bissau.
“Assault on power”
“Pó di Terra” also classified the Military High Command and the Guinean Government as “illegitimate” and “anti-constitutional”, accusing it of being an “assault of power” and violating popular sovereignty.
The organization stressed that, although it considers that the current regime does not act in accordance with the rule of law, it demands that those responsible be held legally responsible, “without revenge or forgiveness, with justice”.
“We address our condolences to the family of this martyr in the fight for the liberation of Guinea-Bissau, as well as to his, and our comrades, from the “Pó di Terra” Revolutionary Movement, in the absolute certainty that his fight will not be in vain – other “Vicário” will continue the fair fight”, reads the association’s note.
“Pó di Terra” also reaffirmed the conviction that the Guinean population will find their own means to “overthrow this military dictatorship, together with its Government”, arguing that the end of the current political system will be the greatest tribute that can be paid to the memory of Vigário Balanta.
“Enough of the murders of innocent people”
On Tuesday, the president of the Guinean Human Rights League, Bubacar Turé, denounced the murder of Vigário Balanta, before presenting the report on the situation of Human Rights in Guinea-Bissau, stating that the execution “is not just a crime, it is a a deeply disturbing sign that, in Guinea-Bissau, the exercise of fundamental rights can become an act of serious risk”.
Bubacar Turé noted that not only is the individual safety of each rights defender in Guinea-Bissau at stake, but “the very essence of human dignity and the rule of law”.
On Wednesday, the Mozambican opposition party National Alliance for a Free and Autonomous Mozambique (Anamola) repudiated the “brutal” murder of the Guinean political activist, demanding that the Guinea-Bissau authorities carry out a “swift, transparent and independent” investigation to hold the perpetrators accountable.
The deputy national director of the Judiciary Police (PJ) of Guinea-Bissau, Cornélia Té, said that “enough of the murders of innocent people” in the country and promised to work to uncover the political activist’s killers.
The official said that the PJ works in collaboration with the Public Order Police (POP) and the SIS (Information and Security Service, Guinean’s ‘secret’) and urged the population to provide any information that could help in investigating the case.
UN “in shock”
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights today declared itself “shocked” by the “brutal murder” of the leader of the Revolutionary Movement “Pó di Terra”, found dead in Guinea-Bissau on Tuesday.
In a statement, the UN High Commissioner states that the death of Vigário Luís Balanta, leader of the Guinean civil society organization critical of the military regime, “occurs at a time of a growing reduction in civic and democratic space”, which has accelerated in Guinea-Bissau since the coup d’état on November 26, 2025.
“The UN has called on the de facto authorities in Guinea-Bissau to urgently investigate the murder impartially and bring those responsible to justice,” the note says.
