Abduction and beating of human rights defender Dr. Luís Cordeiro Vaz Martins

On 10 October 2025, human rights defender and lawyer Dr. Luís Cordeiro Vaz Martins was abducted and brutally beaten by four armed men near his office in Bissau. He was taken to the Ondame area, on the outskirts of the capital, where he was subjected to severe physical violence and humiliating treatment before being abandoned unconscious. On 16 October, he travelled to Portugal to receive medical treatment.

Dr. Luís Cordeiro Vaz Martins is a lawyer and long-standing member of the Guinean Human Rights League (LGDH), where he previously served as President for eight years. Over his 30-year career, he has provided free legal assistance to activists and citizens whose rights have been violated. He currently serves as President of the Human Rights Committee of the Guinea-Bissau Bar Association, where he coordinates reports submitted to UN mechanisms such as the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). In recent years, he has been outspoken in denouncing corruption and abuses of power on national radio programmes.

On 10 October 2025, at approximately 1:00 p.m., four armed men abducted Dr. Luís Cordeiro Vaz Martins near his office in Bissau. He was forcibly taken to the Ondame area, where he was subjected to violent beatings and degrading treatment. The perpetrators abandoned him unconscious. Following the attack, on 16 October, the human rights defender travelled to Portugal to receive medical care.

This is not the first time Dr. Luís Cordeiro Vaz Martins has been targeted. The human rights defender has reported threats and harassment since 2021, when a car attempted to run him over. Last year, in December 2024, he was forced to leave his home, after receiving death threats following radio commentary on alleged corruption and organised crime within the current regime.

This violent attack is the last in a broader pattern of intimidation targeting human rights defenders, journalists, and government critics in Guinea-Bissau. In its submission to the Universal Periodic Review in 2024, the Network of Human Rights Defenders of Guinea Bissau reported on the increasing targetting that human rights defenders have been subjected to, including physical attacks, kidnappings, threats and restrictions on access to information held by the state, with little or no actions taken by authorities to bring justice to the cases.

Local organisations believe that the perpetrators of the attack on Dr. Luís Cordeiro Vaz Martins are linked to the Republican Guard Corps, a unit associated with the Ministry of the Interior and the Palace of the Republic. According to documentation from civil society, this unit has previously been implicated in cases of abduction and assault against human rights defenders.

Front Line Defenders strongly condemns the attack against Dr. Luís Cordeiro Vaz Martins and it believes the attack is directly related to his peaceful and legitimate work in defence of human rights, democracy, and the rule of law in Guinea-Bissau.

Front Line Defenders urges the authorities in Guinea-Bissau to:

1. Conduct an immediate, thorough, and impartial investigation into the abduction and assault of Dr. Luís Cordeiro Vaz Martins, with a view to identifying those responsible and bringing them to justice in accordance with international standards;
2. Take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of the human rights defender and of other members of the Guinean Human Rights League;
3. Ensure that all human rights defenders in Guinea-Bissau are able to carry out their legitimate activities without fear of reprisals and in an environment free from intimidation and violence.