There were credible reports of torture and ill-treatment in prisons. Freedom of assembly was undermined by the misuse of decades-old legislation. Access to abortion was not fully guaranteed. Dozens were injured during attacks against migrants in the city of Porto. An exceptional heatwave and wildfires resulted in five deaths. Access to affordable housing remained inadequate.

Torture and other ill-treatment

In July, following visits to 17 prisons in 2023, the National Prevention Mechanism (NPM) of the Ombudsman’s Office reported finding ill-treatment of people in detention in almost half the prisons visited. The NPM expressed concern about the failure of authorities to investigate and share credible reports of ill-treatment with prosecutors. The NPM also noted the degrading conditions experienced by dozens of migrants while detained at Lisbon Airport. These included being forced to sleep in interview rooms and international boarding areas, in some cases for as many as six nights.

Excessive and unnecessary use of force

In October, in Cova da Moura, Amadora, a police officer shot dead Odair Moniz, a 43-year-old chef of African descent, in unclear circumstances. The killing was followed by days of unrest against police violence in several neighbourhoods around the capital, Lisbon. An investigation was opened.

Freedom of peaceful assembly

The authorities continued to impede the organization of peaceful demonstrations. They relied on decades-old legislation to place burdens and liabilities on the organizers of peaceful assemblies, as well as on vague provisions criminalizing acts deemed to disturb “public order and tranquillity”.

In January, the then Minister of Internal Affairs ordered an investigation into allegations that police had carried out abusive searches of two female climate activists arrested after a protest, and kept all detained activists handcuffed for more than 10 hours.

In February, a peaceful counter-demonstration to a far-right demonstration was allegedly dispersed without warning and with excessive force. The General Inspectorate of Internal Affairs began an investigation into allegations that police use of batons had left several counter-demonstrators requiring medical treatment, including for fractured ribs.

In July, eight climate activists who briefly interrupted traffic during a peaceful protest received 18-month suspended prison sentences.

Gender-based violence

In February, the Prosecutor General’s Office reported that, in 2023, domestic violence had resulted in 22 deaths, including of 17 women and two children; 72% of the killings were by partners or former partners.

Sexual and reproductive rights

Access to abortion care was not guaranteed throughout the country due to the authorities’ failure to adequately regulate conscience-based refusals by medical staff to carry out abortions.

Discrimination

The Prosecutor General reported in October that just 17 prosecutions had resulted from investigations into 895 hate crimes between 2020 and the first half of 2024, while 761 of the cases were dismissed. Disaggregated data was not gathered on these hate crimes.

The high threshold for hate-motivated prosecutions continued throughout the year. In October, police excluded racial motivation in three separate attacks by six men on Algerian and Moroccan nationals in the city of Porto.

In June, following a visit to the country, the Council of Europe’s European Commission against Racism and Intolerance warned Portugal to improve housing conditions for the Roma population and to strengthen measures for combating hate crime.

Right to a healthy environment

In May, a peer-reviewed scientific study on deaths related to heatwaves reported that Portugal was one of the 20 most affected countries globally in the last 30 years, with 650 such deaths per year between 2010 and 2019. A separate study showed that the heatwave that hit Portugal in July would not have occurred without human-induced climate change. In September, wildfires devasted northern Portugal, causing five deaths and injuring hundreds.

In October, the government approved measures to mitigate climate change by increasing renewable energy consumption to 51% by 2030, thus exceeding the EU overall target of 42.5%.

Right to housing

In May and September, the government revoked measures introduced by the “More Housing” programme to tackle affordable housing shortages. Concerns were raised that the elimination of provisions such as rent freezes and regulation of short-term rentals could aggravate the shortage of affordable housing. In March, the National Statistics Institute estimated that almost 13% of the whole population lived in overcrowded housing. Among people at risk of poverty, 27.7% live in overcrowded conditions.

Data published in June by the General Inspectorate of Finance estimated that 60% of tenants did not enjoy security of tenure.