Police warns on human trafficking

ACP Christophe Bizimungu; CID boss

The police have warned about the existence of human trafficking in the country and urged the public to be aware of the crime.

According to Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Christophe Bizimungu, the Commissioner for Criminal Investigations (CID), human trafficking is a discreet crime which is lucrative for those involved.

He said that victims of human trafficking are ferried off to countries in Europe, Middle East and elsewhere where they are put into prostitution and hard labor while others get their bodies parts sold.

Bizimungu shared some of the human trafficking incidents that have occurred in Rwanda and elsewhere including 40 Bangladeshi nationals who were intercepted while in transit to Mozambique.

He also pointed a case involving a Rwandan national who was lured to China to work as a supermarket attendant. Those behind the scheme were arrested before they could sneak out of the country.

“The intercept was possible because we work closely with local leaders within and outside our borders. We also have a close collaboration with Interpol through sharing of information,” said Bizimungu.

Superintendent Jean de Dieu Gatabazi, the director for Judicial Police, explained the penal code act that punishes criminals engaged in human trafficking.

He noted that legal provisions against this crime are entailed in the new penal code from article 250 to 272. The penal code clearly stipulates the modalities and processes from which human traffickers are dealt with depending on their diverse categories whether they operate locally or internationally.

Punishment of the crime ranges from six months to life imprisonment depending on the magnitude and the level of the crime. “The recruiter, seller and buyer in this dirty business are seriously punished, Gatabazi added.

Chief Inspector of Police (CIP) Ismail Baguma, the director of Interpol National Central Bureau discussed how United Nations under the Parelmo convention agreed on a global support to track and punish human traffickers.

The public has been urged to be cautious with people who promise a chance at a better life by assuring well paying jobs, school opportunities abroad or even in regional countries as most promises are hot air and the outcome is always dangerous.