Rwandan Gospel Singer and Activist
Kizito Mihigo was orphaned in the Rwandan genocide. His initial response was a desire to join the Rwandan Patriotic Army to avenge his family, but after high school, he enrolled at the seminary to become a priest. Through music and the Christian faith, he managed to forgive those who killed his father. He established himself as a leading liturgical composer and performer, and in 2010 he created the Kizito Mihigo Peace Foundation, a non-profit organization devoted to his cause of unity and reconciliation in Rwanda.
In April 2014, after releasing a song challenging the official narrative of the Rwandan genocide, Mihigo was arrested, and a year later, he was convicted of conspiracy against the government and sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment. He was released from prison by presidential grace in 2018, but was rearrested on February 13, 2020 and died in custody four days later under suspicious circumstances.