PREVENTION
The Russian government demonstrated limited efforts to prevent trafficking during the reporting period. In June
2014, a Federation Council Deputy submitted a bill to significantly increase the penalties for inducement to
prostitution, organization of brothels, and advertisement of sexual services; the bill would increase the maximum
sentence for these crimes to 10 years’ imprisonment, as opposed to a fine of 2,000 to 2,500 rubles ($30-$40).The
Duma Committee for Criminal Legislation had not received the bill for review at the end of the reporting period.The
government made
no efforts to develop public awareness of forced labor or sex trafficking. The government did not have a body to
monitor its anti-trafficking activities or make periodic assessments measuring its performance.The government did
not take efforts to reduce the demand for forced labor. The government did not provide anti-trafficking training or
guidance for its diplomatic personnel. It declined an offer from an international organization to provide
anti-trafficking training to the foreign diplomatic community in Moscow.
RWANDA: Tier 2
Rwanda is a source and, to a lesser extent, transit and destination country for women and children subjected to
forced labor and sex trafficking. Rwandan girls and some boys are exploited in domestic service through extended
family networks; some of these children experience nonpayment of wages and physical or sexual abuse. In previous
years there have been reports of older females forcing younger girls into prostitution to pay for their expenses
after offering them room and board. Brothel owners supply girls in prostitution to clients staying at hotels. Some
refugee girls residing in Rwanda’s refugee camps experience sex trafficking with men from neighboring communities.
Some Rwandan men, women, and children are subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking in the agricultural and
industrial sectors and domestic work in East Africa, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Malaysia, China,
the United States, and Europe; however, the Rwandan government reported the number of Rwandans subjected to
trafficking abroad decreased in 2014.Women and children from neighboring countries and Somalia are subjected to
prostitution and forced labor in Rwanda. A limited number of foreign nationals transit Rwanda before experiencing
exploitation in third countries; in 2013, an unknown number of potential African victims transited Kigali airport
en route to destinations in the Middle East. Kampala- and Nairobi-based labor recruiters and brokers recruit
workers through fraudulent offers of employment or excessive fees; they coach potential victims on evading law
enforcement authorities at Rwanda’s land border crossings or hire smugglers to assist in illegal, unregulated
crossings. In 2013, Rwandan government officials reportedly provided material and logistical support to the armed
group M23, which operated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and forcibly and fraudulently recruited
children and men; however, after its defeat in November 2013, there were no reports the government facilitated the
recruitment of children to serve in the M23 after that date.
The Government of Rwanda does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so.The government increased its efforts to prevent trafficking,
including passing and implementing a new national anti-trafficking action plan. The government continued to
investigate and prosecute traffickers in 2014, yet the government did not provide the details of these cases. It
also convicted an increased number of traffickers compared with the previous reporting period, though some
offenders were reportedly acquitted.The government continued to identify trafficking victims, and it provided them
with protective services, including counseling, medical, and legal services.The government did not offer, nor did
it provide resources to offer, long-term shelter to victims but worked with NGOs to develop a potential long-term
shelter.The government also created a social assistance program to train local community groups to identify
potential child trafficking victims.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR RWANDA:
Enforce the trafficking-specific penal code amendments through increased investigations and prosecutions of
trafficking offenses, including any officials allegedly complicit in trafficking; continue to build capacity to
systematically identify trafficking victims among vulnerable populations, including women and girls in prostitution
and persons placed in detention and transit centers; continue to systematically implement policies to ensure
victims are not arrested, detained, or punished for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being subjected
to human trafficking; allocate appropriate resources for the provision of adequate long-term protection services,
including shelter, for all trafficking victims; continue cooperation with NGOs and international organizations to
proactively identify and refer victims to appropriate protection services; continue to provide training to law
enforcement, judicial officials, labor inspectors, and social workers on the implementation of trafficking laws and
victim identification procedures; continue to implement the national action plan; and institute a system to collect
trafficking case data for use by all stakeholders.
PROSECUTION
The government maintained overall efforts to investigate, prosecute, and convict some trafficking offenders.
Authorities did not have adequate resources or skills to follow through with some investigations and some offenders
were acquitted due to poor investigative skills. Rwanda’s penal code, promulgated in June 2012, criminalizes human
trafficking under a variety of articles, mostly in Chapter 8.This chapter, in combination with forced labor
articles and other provisions of law, covers almost all forms of trafficking. Chapter 8 prescribes penalties of
seven to 10 years’ imprisonment or fines ranging from 5,444,600 to 10,958,120 Rwandan francs ($7,900 to $15,900)
for internal trafficking, and up to 15 years’ imprisonment for transnational trafficking, which are sufficiently
stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for other serious crimes. Child trafficking convictions are
subject to a minimum five-year prison term, while slavery convictions carry three- to 12-year prison terms. The Law
Relating to the Rights and Protection of the Child outlaws child trafficking, prostitution, and slavery under
Article 51.
The National Public Prosecution Authority (NPPA) reported from June 2014 to February 2015, authorities arrested and
investigated 24 suspected trafficking offenders, prosecuted six alleged offenders, convicted four traffickers under
Articles 250 to 263 of the 2012 penal code, and acquitted two defendants.The government did not provide additional
details of these law enforcement efforts. The number of convictions increased to four in 2014 from zero in 2013,
yet the number of prosecutions declined to six in 2014 from 11 in 2013. The government investigated and arrested
three officers in the Rwanda Defense Forces and one other government official for involvement in trafficking; their
cases were still being investigated at the end of the reporting period. NGOs reported officials’ handling of
trafficking investigations was at times inadequate and complex cases were often dismissed due to lack
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