Rwandan YouTuber dies of alleged overdose on day of release from prison

Nairobi, May 8, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for an independent and credible investigation into the death of Rwandan YouTube commentator Aimable Karasira Uzaramba on Wednesday, the day of his scheduled release from prison at the end of his five-year sentence.

In a statement, the Rwanda Correctional Service (RCS) said that 48-year-old Karasira died at Nyarugenge hospital in the capital, Kigali, after overdosing on his prescribed medication and that it was awaiting a post-mortem report.

An RCS spokesperson told The New Times newspaper and the local broadcaster TV One that Karasira ingested the medication after completing pre-release procedures from prison and that he was taken to the hospital where he died around midnight.

“Aimable Karasira Uzaramba’s death in state custody on the day he was expected to finally walk free is devastating,” said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Muthoki Mumo. “Given past reports that Karasira was tortured behind bars and his unjust, five-year detention, Rwandan authorities clearly have questions to answer. We call for an independent, credible inquiry to find out how and why Karasira died.”

Karasira was arrested in May 2021, and in September 2025 he was sentenced to five years in prison on charges of inciting divisions.

A former university lecturer, Karasira published commentary on his YouTube channel, Ukuri Mbona (The Truth as I See it), and frequently appeared on other YouTube channels, where he criticized the government and official narratives of the 1994 Rwandan genocide.  Karasira was an ethnic Tutsi who lost relatives in the genocide, in which at least 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed.

Authorities charged Karasira with genocide denial, genocide justification, causing unrest, and inciting divisions in connection to his commentary. The courts acquitted him of all but the last charge in September 2025.

The YouTuber alleged that he was assaulted and denied sleep and medical treatment during detention. Karasira had mental health problems, and his lawyers argued several times that he was not fit to stand trial. The courts ordered at least three medical examinations that gave differing views. The most recent, in 2023, found that he was fit to stand trial.

Karasira was one of five journalists, four of them YouTubers, currently in prison in Rwanda, which has a history of unlawful killings, transnational repression, and restrictions on media freedom.

Rwanda was the second worst jailer of journalists in sub-Saharan Africa, tying with Ethiopia and Niger, in CPJ’s latest annual prison census on December 1, 2025.

In 2020, gospel musician Kizito Mihigo died in police custody. Authorities said he strangled himself. Human Rights Watch described it as a “suspicious death,” which remains unexplained more than six years later.

CPJ’s requests for comment via phone, email, and messaging app to the Rwanda Correctional Service were unanswered on May 7.