Rwanda National Police

The fight against human trafficking has taken another step as Rwanda National Police has move to train more Police officers under the Interpol initiative dubbed ‘Smuggling Training and Operations Programme (STOP)’ which seeks to improve management of borders against such transnational crimes.

Fifteen Police officers from the National Central Bureau (NCB) Kigali, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and Crime Intelligence, on January 8 started a two-day ‘Training of Trainers (ToT)’ under STOP, who will in turn spearhead training of their colleagues in border security management systems, especially against people smuggling and human trafficking.

The training is organized by RNP in partnership with the international Police organization – Interpol. It is conducted by a Rwandan expert, Chief Supt. Jean de Dieu Gatabazi, attached to Interpol headquarters in Lyon, France.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Tony Kulamba, Commissioner for Interpol, while officiating at the opening of the course, observed that transnational crimes such as people smuggling and human trafficking are “no longer mere story” in Rwanda but the country’s problem as well.

“The world is now faced with challenges of crimes which are transnational in nature and issues of people smuggling and human trafficking are no longer hearsay in our society but part of our problem, which we should move faster to counter at an early stage,” said ACP Kulamba.

He highlighted organ removal, hard labour, sexual slavery or exploitation and drowning for the case of those who are smuggled or enter western countries through waters, as one of the dangers associated with human trafficking.

He further challenged trainees to take the course seriously for strong border management and combat these cross-border crimes through the use of Interpol secure global communication tool – I-24/7.

The tool connects all law enforcement agencies in Interpol member countries and allows investigators access Interpol’s range of criminal databases to search and cross check data on suspected criminals or wanted persons, stolen and lost travel documents, stolen motor vehicles, fingerprints, DNA profiles, stolen administrative documents and stolen works of art.

The training offers professional skills to the officers to detect false documents or imposters, facilitates real-time exchange of message and police data and screening of passengers for stolen and lost travel documents in order to identify wanted persons or those traveling on stolen or fraudulent travel documents, among others.

The training is in line with agreement signed between Interpol and the international organization for migration (IOM) on March 5, last year on border security, to better combat human trafficking and migrant smuggling.

The agreement formalizes the already strong working relationship between the two organizations. Key elements include information exchange in particular relating to travel fraud, border management technology and operations, capacity building and training for police and migration officials, and implementing joint projects to address human trafficking and migrant smuggling.

“Rwanda has invested much is security borders by establishing I-24/7 tool at all major border posts and this training is meant to also improve the quality of border managers using this tool; It’s a combination of human and technological factor,” ACP Kulamba explained.

This Interpol communication tool has been vital in recovering stolen goods including vehicles, money and rescuing trafficked individuals.

Late last year, NCB-Kigali rescued two Rwandans including a girl student who had been trafficked to Zambia. A Ugandan girl was also intercepted at Kigali international airport as she was being trafficked to Asia.

At least 153 cases of human trafficking were registered in Rwanda since 2009, 90 percent of them females and 82 percent of them aged between 18 and 35.

About five vehicles stolen from neighbouring countries were also intercepted in Rwanda, and through information exchange, four drug traffickers, three Rwandans and a Ugandan travelling on Belgian and British passports respectively, were intercepted at Kigali international airport with 7.4 kilogrammes of cocaine.

In December last year, Interpol Kigali also recovered US$110, 000 that had been stolen from a businessman in Uganda and transferred to Rwanda.