Rwandan Government Critic Aimable Karasira Dies During Prison Release in Kigali
Aimable Karasira, the Rwandan singer and vocal government critic, has died as he was being released from prison in Kigali. The Rwanda Correctional Service (RCS) reported that Karasira died at Nyarugenge Hospital after allegedly overdosing on his prescription medication.
Hillary Sengabo, an RCS spokesperson, stated that Karasira suffered from diabetes, high blood pressure, and poor mental health, adding that a post-mortem examination would be conducted. However, several critics of the Rwandan government have expressed profound suspicion regarding his death, calling for a transparent, independent investigation.
The 48-year-old was widely recognised for his YouTube videos, which frequently criticised the government and the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) party. He was arrested in 2021 and subsequently sentenced in 2025 to five years’ imprisonment for inciting division. Last year, the high court acquitted him of other charges, including inciting public disorder, justifying genocide, and genocide denial.
According to the RCS spokesperson, Karasira took an additional dose of medication whilst being escorted from the prison on Wednesday afternoon. Prison officials reportedly attempted to intervene, but it was too late.
Denise Zaneza, a Rwandan human rights activist based in Belgium, commented on the suspicious timing. “After years of persecution and imprisonment, the authorities announce your death just as you were supposed to regain your freedom,” she posted on social media. Zaneza demanded an independent and transparent investigation, highlighting what she termed “Rwanda’s long history of repression, lack of transparency, suspicious deaths in detention, and the mistreatment of critics and dissidents.”
This incident draws parallels with the 2020 death of gospel singer Kizito Mihigo, another survivor of the 1994 Rwandan genocide and critic of the RPF, who was found dead in his prison cell. Rwandan authorities similarly attributed Mihigo’s death to suicide.
Zaneza lauded Karasira’s courage in speaking about “memory, injustice, and the right to mourn all victims without fear,” particularly his willingness to discuss the killing of his family members by RPF soldiers in 1994 – a narrative often suppressed as it challenges the official government account. His YouTube channel, “Ukuri Mbona” (The Truth As I See It), served as his primary platform for dissent.
The RPF maintains a rigid stance against dissent, discouraging public discussion of ethnicity in favour of a unified Rwandan identity. Following Karasira’s arrest in 2021, Human Rights Watch urged Rwandan authorities to investigate “suspicious deaths and disappearances of critics, opposition members, civil society actors, and journalists, and prosecute those responsible.”
