Carine Kanimba

Carine Kanimba is a Rwandan activist who advocated for the release of her father, Paul Rusesabagina, a dissident who was detained by the Rwandan government.

Carine Kanimba, and her sister Anaïse Kanimba, are the adopted daughters of Paul Rusesabagina, the hotel manager who inspired the film Hotel Rwanda. Their father adopted the girls after their biological parents were murdered during the 1994 Genocide. The family has remained Belgian citizens and permanent US residents since the atrocity. However, in August 2020, Paul Rusesabagina was kidnapped by the Rwandan government and has been detained for over two years. He has been subjected to torture and forced to make false confessions. The United Nations and many other human rights groups have vehemently condemned his imprisonment.

The sisters filed a lawsuit in December 2020 against the Greek aviation company that provided the plane for Rwandan authorities to transport Rusesabagina back to Kigali.

She has continued lobbying for her father's release, petitioning international human rights groups. Kanimba has experienced harassment in retribution for her work to free Rusesabagina and clear his name.

In October 2023, Yvonne Uwera, a Rwandan human rights activist published the book Rescuing The Hero: A Daughter’s Quest to Free The Hotel Rwanda Legend about Carine Kanimba's relentless fight to free her adoptive father, Paul Rusesabagina.