Despite statistics showing a downward trend in the number of registered human trafficking and child abuse crimes, there is still lack of awareness among the population to ensure the vices are reported as and when they happen, Prosecutor General Richard Muhumuza has said.

The two vices, along with Gender-Based Violence, formed part of President Paul Kagame’s remarks as he presided over the commencement of the Judicial Year at Parliament a fortnight ago.

During the event, the President challenged all stakeholders in the judicial sector to work toward curbing the vices from the communities.

Speaking in an interview, last week, Muhumuza said when one compares figures from last year with the present, it shows a decline in the number of cases registered.

However, the prosecutor-general added that this does not necessarily mean awareness is satisfactory, especially on the crime of human trafficking.

Police say victims of human trafficking are often tricked by traffickers on false promises of good jobs abroad or scholarships only to be taken as slaves and work as maids or destitute casual laborers, he said.

Such cases, Muhumuza said, could even be prevailing in neighbourhoods but because people are yet to fully grasp what constitutes the crime of human trafficking, end up not reporting them.

“It is everyone’s’ responsibility to help prevent this crime as it affects mostly youngsters, the masterminds and traffickers are often difficult to trace, because they normally follow a certain chain of command,” he said.

According to a report from prosecution, the cases reduced from 51 last year to 32 in June this year, while according to Muhumuza, the rate at which convictions of culprits are secured in courts has also been increasing.

According to the Penal Code, any person who abducts or causes to be abducted, arrests or causes to be arrested, detains or causes to be detained, transports or causes to be transported any person in order to make them slaves, sell them as slaves, force them into begging, illegally adopt them on payment of a consideration, is reliable to a jail term of between seven and 10 years and a fine of between Rwf5 million and Rwf10 million.