Magnitsky Awards
Winner’s Bio

Carine Kanimba survived Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, during which her father, Paul Rusesabagina, saved more than 1,200 people in his hotel. This story was portrayed in the film Hotel Rwanda. In 2020, her father was forcibly rendered to Rwanda and imprisoned for speaking out against the tyranny of the Rwandan president. As a global human rights advocate, Carine along with her family led the #FreeRusesabagina campaign to raise awareness of her father’s wrongful detention in Rwanda, which led to his release in 2023 after 2.5 years of unjust imprisonment. Amnesty International and Citizen lab identified Carine as a victim of the Pegasus spyware. In July 2021, she testified in front of the U.S House Intelligence Committee, as a target of the Pegasus spyware. Due to her activism and advocacy for justice and human rights, Carine was honored with the Heroes of Democracy Award from the Renew Democracy Initiative in April 2023. Carine is a graduate of Northwestern University and went on to receive a Masters in Law and Economics from Aix-Marseille University, Erasmus University Rotterdam, and the University of Bologna.