Magnitsky Awards
Presenter’s Bio

Carine Kanimba is a resilient survivor of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, where her father, Paul Rusesabagina, heroically saved over 1,200 lives in his hotel, a story later immortalized in the film Hotel Rwanda. In a harrowing turn of events, her father was forcibly taken to Rwanda in 2020 and unjustly imprisoned for speaking out against the tyranny of the Rwandan president. As a dedicated global human rights advocate, Carine, alongside her family, led the #FreeRusesabagina campaign, shedding light on her father’s wrongful detention and ultimately securing his release in 2023 after 2 and a half years as a political prisoner.

Carine’s commitment to justice has come at a personal cost, as identified by Amnesty International and Citizen Lab through forensic analysis of the Pegasus spyware in her phone. The Rwandan Government’s suspected continuous surveillance and spying on her were exposed by journalists from the Forbidden Stories collective. In 2021, Carine testified before the U.S Congress House Intelligence Committee and the European Parliament, sharing her firsthand experience as a target of the Pegasus spyware. She continues to advocate for strong regulation of the commercial spyware industry and accountability for those abusing the technology to target human rights activists and journalists.

Carine was honored with the Heroes of Democracy Award from the Renew Democracy Initiative in April 2023 and the Global Magnitsky Justice Award for Young Human Rights Activists in November 2023. She has appeared on CNN, Aljazeera, BBC, NPR, Channel 4, The Guardian, France 24, TV5 Monde, Le Soir, Washington Post, New York Times, Financial Times, Paris-Match, and Sunday Times, among others. Currently serving as the spokesperson for the World Liberty Congress, Carine remains an active advocate for justice, human rights, and global liberties.