VZCZCXYZ0007
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHLGB #0199/01 0591759
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 281759Z FEB 06
FM AMEMBASSY KIGALI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2433
INFO RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC

UNCLAS KIGALI 000199 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/C, DRL, AND G/TIP 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV ELAB RW
SUBJECT:  JUSTICE MINISTRY WELCOMES RULE OF LAW DIALOGUE, 
CONSIDERS TRAFFICKING A RELATIVELY LIMITED PROBLEM 
 
 
¶1.  Summary:  In a meeting February 27 with the Ministry of 
Justice, Ambassador expressed his desire to engage the 
Rwandan government on a range of important issues, including 
rule of law, democracy and governance.  Secretary General 
Johnston Busingye welcomed the opportunity for further 
dialogue on these issues.  He pointed out that while 
trafficking in persons is not a widespread problem in 
Rwanda, the GOR is looking at ways to address the situation, 
including focusing more on prosecution and detention and 
less on rehabilitation in the coming year.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  In a meeting February 27 at the Ministry of Justice, 
Ambassador told Secretary General Johnston Busingye of his 
many discussions with the GOR on working cooperatively on a 
range of issues, including rule of law, democracy and 
governance.  In recent weeks, he has engaged several senior 
officials, including the Special Envoy to the President for 
the Great Lakes Region, the Foreign Minister, the Supreme 
Court President, and the Police Commissioner General, on 
issues related to the judiciary, human rights, and 
supervision of police.  He hoped that the GOR and USG could 
build on those initial meetings for further constructive 
dialogue.  Busingye agreed on the need for further 
engagement and welcomed the idea. 
 
¶3.  In discussing the trafficking question, Ambassador 
informed Busingye that "trafficking," as specifically 
defined by the USG, includes prostitutes under the age of 
18, whether they are trafficked across the border or by an 
organized criminal network within the country.  He iterated 
his understanding from an earlier meeting with the Police 
Commissioner that prostitutes in Rwanda are not sent to 
prison or detention centers but are encouraged to be 
rehabilitated. 
 
¶4. Busingye pointed out that prostitution is illegal under 
the Rwandan Penal Code, but that no one has been prosecuted 
and detained for prostitution in the last 12 years.  He 
explained that since 1994 police and prosecutors have had 
greater latitude in making decisions on how to handle 
specific kinds of crime due to the heavy caseload of 
genocide-related crime.  He noted that the GOR, in 
coordination with a consortium of NGOs, including Sharing 
Rwanda, has a very active program to rehabilitate 
prostitutes into respectable, responsible citizens and that 
it has succeeded in introducing many of them to a different 
way of life.  Given the limited extent of prostitution, if 
the rehabilitation program succeeds, so much the better, he 
said.  He acknowledged, however, that some prostitutes, 
despite rehabilitation efforts, will return to prostitution. 
 
¶5.  Up till now, the GOR has taken "the carrot" approach in 
its attempts to rehabilitate prostitutes, remarked Busingye. 
In 2006, however, the GOR plans to adopt a more punitive 
approach, using "the stick" and asking prosecutors to pursue 
these cases.  Currently, police round up prostitutes, write 
up the files, but then release them.  Cases have not gone to 
court because prosecutors have decided not to prosecute due 
to the overburdened court system.  Busingye said the focus 
has necessarily been on rehabilitation rather than 
prosecution and detention.  In 2006, the GOR plans to focus 
not only on those who want to reform, but on repeat 
offenders.  He emphasized that the judiciary should render 
judgments to serve not only as punishment but as a message. 
 
¶6.  When asked about houses of prostitution and organized 
leaders and rings, Busingye confirmed that to his knowledge 
none exist and that prostitution is very much an individual 
situation in Rwanda, without bosses taking a percentage of 
pay.  He pointed out that if there were structured groups or 
organized networks, many prostitutes would simply refuse to 
seek an alternative lifestyle.  He attributed an estimated 
98 percent of prostitution to "a way of life" as the result 
of a disadvantaged upbringing, with little or no education, 
unwanted pregnancy, or lack of parental care and guidance. 
He observed that poverty and prostitution are intricately 
interlinked. 
 
¶7.  There are a range of alternative measures, ranging from 
preventive to punitive, to address the situation.  Measures 
to prevent continued illicit activity by prostitutes include 
restraining orders to keep them at home and probation to 
closely monitor their activities.  According to Busingye, 
punitive measures in the 1982 penal code include 
imprisonment of 3 months to one year and a fine of RwF 5,000 
(approx. USD 9) for repeat offenders; imprisonment of three 
months to five years for those who entice others into 
prostitution; imprisonment of 6 months to 6 years and a fine 
of RwF 5,000 (approx. USD 9) for those who procure 
prostitutes; and imprisonment of one to five years for those 
who financially benefit from the proceeds. 
 
¶8.  Ambassador stressed that the USG takes trafficking in 
persons very seriously and hoped that Rwanda, within its 
capacity, would do its part to address the worldwide 
problem.  He provided Busingye a draft copy of an anti- 
trafficking bill from an African country as an example of 
legislation the GOR may wish to consider.  Busingye 
expressed appreciation and said the GOR would consider 
carefully the question of introducing similar legislation. 
He noted that all government bodies involved in the issue 
would need to carefully review the document and to reach 
consensus before any further action can be taken.  He 
encouraged Embassy to also share copies of the anti- 
trafficking bill with other relevant GOR ministries. 
(Comment:  Embassy will do so.  End comment.) 
 
¶9.  While the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Gender, and 
Ministry of Internal Security are the government agencies 
formally involved in the issue of prostitution, local 
leaders are also mandated to mobilize resources to combat 
prostitution and to strengthen women's education.  Busingye 
said that the GOR has not yet designated a lead agency on 
this issue, but that the police have been the most active in 
rounding up prostitutes and the Ministry of Internal 
Security has generally taken the lead.  In addition, he 
noted that a parliamentary women's forum established in 
early 2005 and chaired by parliamentarian Judith Kanakuze 
has been very active in strengthening girls' education, 
taking actions against prostitution, domestic violence, and 
rape, and exerting pressure at the local level.  Last year, 
it held a meeting with international organizations to 
discuss domestic violence and other issues affecting women. 
This year, it plans to work with the Ministry of Justice on 
updating the penal code. 
 
¶10.  On an unrelated note, when asked about the volume and 
pace of gacaca cases to be tried in the conventional court 
system this year, Busingye observed that the number of cases 
processed in Rwanda's court system has more than doubled 
since last year.  However, there is still a large number of 
genocide-related cases.  He said that the Ministry may have 
to recategorize Category I cases (the most serious category 
of genocide-related crimes) or increase the number of judges 
to avoid overburdening the judiciary if it determines that 
the genocide caseload is too high.  He estimated that the 
current total caseload is 47,000 pending cases, including 
non-genocide related cases.  In response to a query from the 
Ambassador, Busingye confirmed that Rwanda's Constitution 
grants the President ultimate authority to pardon prisoners, 
upon recommendation of the Ministry of Justice and in 
consultation with the Cabinet. 
 
¶11.  Comment:  Widespread poverty in Rwanda's socio-economic 
fabric has been identified as a significant contributing 
factor in incidents of prostitution; however, trafficking in 
persons remains a discrete, individualized problem with no 
reported connections to organized crime or networks.  The 
GOR acknowledges that its focus on rehabilitation of 
prostitutes may not have been fully successful and is 
prepared to take a harder, broader approach to the problem 
through prosecution and detention of traffickers and repeat 
offenders. 
 
ARIETTI