Our Statement on the Death of Aimable Karasira

Statement

The Global Campaign for Rwandans' Human Rights has learned with profound grief and outrage of the death of Aimable Karasira, the lecturer and citizen journalist who was imprisoned for nothing more than his YouTube commentary on Rwandan politics.

According to the Rwanda Correctional Service, Karasira died at Nyarugenge hospital in Kigali after an overdose of his prescribed medication, on 6 May 2026: the very day he was due to walk free after five years behind bars. The authorities have asked Rwandans and the world to accept this explanation without question. We do not, and we will not.

A Pattern of Deaths in Custody

Aimable Karasira is not the first critic of the regime to die at the moment the state had him in its power. Kizito Mihigo, another beloved artist silenced by the regime, also died in police custody in 2020, in circumstances the authorities hastily closed. Anene Karara and others have died in prison without credible investigation. Each time, the state announces its own conclusion, seals the file, and moves on.

When deaths in custody occur again and again, always conveniently, always without independent scrutiny, and always to the regime's critics, the burden of proof no longer rests on the bereaved. It rests on the state.

Our Demands

The Global Campaign for Rwandans' Human Rights demands:

• An immediate, independent and international investigation into the circumstances of Aimable Karasira's death, with full access to medical records, prison records and witnesses, and the participation of independent forensic experts.
• The publication of the full findings, without redaction, to his family and to the public.
• Accountability for anyone responsible for his death, and for the conditions of his detention.
• The immediate release of all prisoners of conscience in Rwanda, and an end to the imprisonment of citizens for their opinions.

In Memoriam

Aimable Karasira spoke so that others could be free. He was punished for it with five years of his life, and now his life itself has been taken. We extend our deepest condolences to his family, his friends, his students and all who knew him.

We will not let his name be forgotten. We will not let his death be filed away unanswered. Free expression in Rwanda was already a crime in practice; it must not become a death sentence.

The Global Campaign for Rwandans' Human Rights

Secretariat