Rebecca Kabugho

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 in 2017.

Life Kabugho was born in Goma 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 spent six months in a prison in her home town whilst being lauded on social media

In 2019 Kabugho was invited to Geneva where she joined the Brazilian Hamangai Pataxo, children's rights activist Memory Banda from Malawi and Amy and Ella Meek from England at the Young Activists Summit that included the Nobel Peace laureate Nadia Murad as a special guest. They met guests at the UN office and the six each received Young Activist Awards.