The modern anti-human trafficking movement commenced in earnest with the adoption of the Palermo Protocol in 2000, and since then has grown substantially. Governments have made progress and continue to work to pass and implement legislation penalising all forms of human trafficking. In doing so, they collaborate with civil society and survivors of the vice human trafficking to strengthen victim protection at the policy and grassroots levels, and take preventive measures and raise public awareness about the dangers and indicators of modern slavery. It is against that background that a relevant legislation was adopted in Rwanda, which provides harsher penalties. That’s law nº 51/2018 of 13/08/2018 relating to the prevention, suppression and punishment of trafficking in persons and exploitation of others. Under the new law, especially in Article 18, if trafficking in persons is committed on Rwandan soil, a convicted person can be imprisoned from 10 up to 15 years and a fine of 10 up to 15 million Rwandan francs. But if such a crime is transnational, the imprisonment is increased from 20 up to 25 years and a fine of 20 up to 25 million Rwandan francs. The law also, under Article 19, prohibits and punishes a number of acts associated with promotion and facilitation of trafficking in persons. These include: knowingly lease his/her own building, sublease a building or lease a building under his/her management for the purpose of promoting trafficking in persons; use or allow the use of his/her own building or his/her residence or other premises under his/her responsibility for the purpose of promoting trafficking in persons; advertise, publish, distribute by any means, export or import any material that is aimed at promoting the trafficking in persons; tamper with or falsify a document for the purpose of committing or facilitating trafficking in persons; manage, run or finance any job recruitment agency for the purpose of promoting trafficking in persons; confiscate, conceal or destroy traveling documents or other personal documents of a person for the purpose of trafficking him/her; facilitate or assist, in the exit from or entry into Rwanda, a person who is in possession of traveling documents unissued by the relevant organ, tampered or fraudulent, for the purpose of trafficking him/her; promote by any other means trafficking in persons. Once convicted, the culprit is liable to imprisonment sentence of 7 up to 10 years and a fine of 7 up to 10 million Rwandan francs. Under article 20, the law equally outlines aggravating factors. These include: where the offence involves serious injury, disability, incurable disease, death or suicide of the victim; where the offence is committed against a person who is particularly vulnerable, including a pregnant woman and a physically or mentally handicapped person; where the offence involves more than one victim; where the offence was committed by a person engaging in it as a profession or within the framework of the activity of an organized criminal association; where drugs, medications or weapons were used in the commission of the crime; where the offender has been previously convicted for the same or similar offences; where the offender is a spouse or the conjugal partner of the victim; where the offender is the leader of the victim or a person who exercises authority over the victim; where the offender is in a position of responsibility or trust in relation to the victim. And if the above offence is child-trafficking, which is an aggravating factor, the penalty is life imprisonment and a fine of 15 up to 20 million Rwandan francs. Interestingly, however, Article 16 of the preceding law rules out the consent of the victim in the defence of suspect. In other words, it can never be considered as an extenuating factor for the culprit. On the whole, trafficking in persons is indeed, modern day slavery, and a sophisticated and highly lucrative form of organised crime. Characteristically, victims are forced, defrauded or coerced into various forms of exploitation. Therefore, it is imperative to reflect the grievous nature of the crime with an appropriately severe penalty. Though there’re many ways of combating trafficking in persons, severe penalty is one of the most effective measures to keep the offence at bay. Thus, harsher penalties against trafficking in persons have a deterrent effect, both general and specific, in society. The Government has all along been tackling the problem through a number of initiatives, including prosecution of persons found involved in trafficking in persons, strengthening capacities of law enforcement agencies, and amendment of the relevant law. Perhaps another feasible way to prevent trafficking in persons is education and awareness in society, especially targeting the youth. It is critical that trainers be well versed in the issue of human trafficking, particularly its root causes and techniques used. Equally, it is important to respect youth victims by focusing on strengths and opportunities to engage youth, as agents of changing the mindset. Victim assistance efforts to break the cycle of trafficking must be directed both at preventing victims from being re-trafficked and also at preventing victims from becoming traffickers. Human trafficking is an assault on human dignity and should be penalized severely. The writer is a law expert. The views expressed in this article are of the author.
