Victim of private spyware warns it can be used against US

Carine Kanimba speaks during a House Intelligence Committee hearing on Commercial Cyber Surveillance, on July 27, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Kanimba and technology experts urged Congress to oppose the use of commercial spyware in the US and discourage investment in spyware that has been used to hack the phones of dissidents, journalists, and even US diplomats. — AP

WASHINGTON: Months after her father was lured back to Rwanda under false pretenses and jailed, Carine Kanimba discovered her own phone had been hacked using private spyware.

Kanimba is the youngest daughter of Paul Rusesabagina, who is credited with saving more than 1,200 lives during the 1994 Rwandan genocide in a story that inspired the movie Hotel Rwanda. An opponent of Rwandan President Paul Kagame, Rusesabagina is now serving a 25-year prison sentence on charges that he has dismissed as politically motivated.