A Rwandan singer has died on the day he was set to be released from prison in Kigali, according to the Rwanda Correctional Service (RCS). The agency said the 48-year-old "took chunks of medicine which he had been prescribed for a pre-existing condition" and allegedly overdosed.

Hillary Sengabo, a spokesperson for the agency, said Karasira was suffering from diabetes, high blood pressure and poor mental health. He had died at Nyarugenge Hospital on May 6. But Human Rights Watch has called for local authorities to conduct an effective, independent, and transparent investigation into Karasira's death. The singer owned a YouTube channel called Ukuri Mbona, which means "The Truth As I See It", and shared his criticism of the Rwandan government and the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) party.

Karasira was arrested in May 2021 and charged with genocide denial and justification as well as divisionism, which are crimes in Rwanda.

According to the RCS spokesperson, Karasira was escorted out of the prison at around 2pm or 3pm on Wednesday (May 6) when he took another dose of his medication. The prison officials then proceeded to take the medication away from him, but it was too late.

The singer, an ethnic Tutsi, posted a video in 2020 about losing his parents during the country's 1994 genocide, and he blamed the RPF rebels suspected them of passing on information about their activities. Around 800,000 people were killed in 100 days by ethnic Hutu extremists, who were targeting members of the minority Tutsi community, and their political opponents, irrespective of their ethnic origin.

Clémentine de Montjoye, senior Great Lakes researcher at Human Rights Watch, said: "There are many reasons to question the circumstances surrounding Aimable Karasira’s death in custody, not least the years of harassment and persecution he experienced at the hands of the authorities. The government bears the burden of proving that Karasira was not unlawfully killed, and Rwanda’s partners should be watching closely."

In 2020, gospel singer Kizito Mihigo, who was also a survivor of the 1994 Rwanda genocide, was found dead in his prison cell at Remera Police Station in Kigali, four days after he was rearrested as he sought to flee the country.

Human Rights Watch is now calling for an independent investigation into Karasira's death, including an autopsy and the findings should be made public.

The experts should include the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and members of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights Working Group on Death Penalty, Extra-Judicial, Summary or Arbitrary Killings and Enforced Disappearances in Africa.