Rebecca Kabugho (born 3 September 1994) is a Congolese activist who was detained by the government. She was said to be one of the youngest prisoners of conscience and she was given an

International Women of Courage Award The International Women of Courage Award, also referred to as the U.S. Secretary of State's International Women of Courage Award, is an American award presented annually by the United States Department of State to women around the world who have ...

in 2017.

Life

Kabugho was born in

Goma Goma is the capital of North Kivu province in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is located on the northern shore of Lake Kivu, next to the Rwandan city of Gisenyi. The lake and the two cities are in the Albertine Rift, the weste ...

in 1994 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She was a member of the LUCHA ('' Lutte pour le changement'' - Struggle for Change) which had been founded in her home town in June 2012. LUCHA was a non-hierarchical non-violent movement for change. LUCHA was opposed by Congo's National Intelligence Agency as a "insurrectionist movement". Kabugho and she was one of six members arrested on 16 February after several peaceful protests but the protest at that time was named "Dead City". She and the other five men were charged with encouraging

civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". Hen ...

over President

Joseph Kabila Joseph Kabila Kabange ( , ; born 4 June 1971) is a Congolese politician who served as President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between January 2001 and January 2019. He took office ten days after the assassination of his father, Presi ...

's disregard of Congo's constitution. She spent six months in a prison in her home town whilst being lauded on social media and the international press as "one of" the "youngest prisoner of conscience in the world". On 19 December 2016, Rebecca was amongst 19 other activists who were arrested again for protesting against what they consider as an unconstitutional government. She was released within a week but continued to be a leading non-violent campaigner for improvements in Congo. Kabugho was awarded an

Melania Trump Melania Trump ( ; born Melanija Knavs , Germanized as Melania Knauss ; born April 26, 1970) is a Slovene-American former model and businesswoman who served as First Lady of the United States from 2017 to 2021 as the wife of 45th president Do ...

in March 2017 with twelve other women. In 2016 she was awarded International Women of Courage Award.Our Partner: Congolese Activist Receives U.S. Secretary of State’s International Women of Courage Award
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kabugho, Rebecca 1994 births Living people People from Goma Democratic Republic of the Congo human rights activists Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by the Democratic Republic of the Congo Democratic Republic of the Congo women activists Recipients of the International Women of Courage Award