Criminality; what we should know and avoid.

          

                               

Since I started working in an attorney’s office, I have experienced working on children’s cases. As an experienced and specialized attorney in child’s justice, it is common in her office to welcome cases of children. From that experience and running the business beside her I realized that in the rise of criminality even children are agents of it. Children are getting bad guidance and example from their parents and their surrounding environment especially in the rural areas, without forgetting urban ones. 

The causes of crime cannot be linked to one factor, there are a range of factors that cause crime and therefore it is difficult to establish the exact cause of crime. It is difficult to control or reduce crime without knowing what causes it. Indeed, identifying the causes of crime is not easy or certain because the picture of crime changes constantly.[1] Before we go deep into the subject lets understand some key words. Clarence Darrow defines a crime as an act that is forbidden by the law of the land and that is considered sufficiently serious to warrant providing penalties for its commission. Legally, a crime or an offence is usually defined as an act or omission forbidden by the law that can be punished by imprisonment and/or fine. Criminal law generally defines crime as an action or omission that constitutes an offence punishable by law.[2]

Looking in the first six months of 2023 have registered the highest crime rate compared to the previous five years. According to figures provided to the parliament by the Minister of State in charge of Constitutional and Legal Affairs, Solina Nyirahabimana, 84,453 crimes have so far been investigated by the Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) this year, a number that is already higher than the 78,373 that were registered in the entire 2022. Nyirahabimana presented the statistics as part of an argument for a new draft law that proposes key changes in the penal code. For example, it proposes giving more discretionary powers to judges in determining fair penalties, and reduction of the time that convicts have to spend in correctional facilities before they can ask for release on parole. Nyirahabimana told the members of parliament that the crime rate seems to be on the increase despite the fact that Rwanda has put in place tough penalties, and thus there is a need to change the penal law from being too punitive to correctional. The statistics she presented showed that in 2018 when the current penal law was put in place, RIB investigated 39,998, but the number increased to 48,869 in 2019, and then to 58,585 in 2020. The numbers continued to rise, and in 2021, the crimes investigated were 78,373 in 2022 and so far in 2023, they have reached 84,453.[3]

What we can ask ourselves is the rise of number meaning emerging of new criminals or they are existing ones who were not fully investigated or known in the first place!? The Rwanda Investigation Burau one of the challenges they face in having enough qualified personnel, I mean not fully trained. People from different educational backgrounds joins the organization. But according the nature of the work lawyers are more preferred. But due to different expertise needed in investigation candidates from different fields of studies are needed but they should know some criminal law basics. Not having high qualified staff can lead this dramatic rise in numbers. We tend to hear some people detained while what they were accused was not fully investigated. Those may lead to the dramatic rise we have see in numbers.

Having in place a punitive judicial system can be another cause of the dramatic rise in numbers indicating criminality in Rwanda. With the existing of the alternative measure to the judicial measures can be one of the solutions.

Criminality is sparked by different things among them poverty and unemployment. In the second edition of his book, Criminology, Newburn claims that there is a relationship between poverty and crimes committed. Newburn suggested that people living in extreme poverty are more likely to commit opportunistic crimes. Poverty and unemployment are thought to cause crime because they motivate people to offend as a means of overcoming their difficulties. This however cannot be the case in all circumstances and in all offences. For instance, not all poor people are thieves and not all thieves are poor which means at times some people go into offences for unjustified enrichment.[4] Lack of personal values is another cause of criminality. As we have seen poverty is not an excuse even rich people can steal due to greed and feeling ungrateful of what they have. Values like being grateful of what someone has, and the one of working for what we want in guidance of what the law has provided can lead to reduction of crimes specifically those of stealing and robbery.

The consumption of excess alcohol is another agent of increase of criminality in the society. Consumption of alcohol in a regulated manner is not an issue, but when someone drinks it on top of problems, anger issues, this can lead to the increase of criminality, as the drunk person becomes the agent of committing the crime like assault or battery either done intentionally or   unintentionally. Article 120 of the law determining offences and penalties in general, shows that there is Unintentional assault or battery where Any person who, because of clumsiness, recklessness, negligence, carelessness, lack of precaution and foresight, assaults or batters another person or causes an injury, commits an offence. Upon conviction, he/she is liable to imprisonment for a term of not less than eight (8) days and not more than two (2) months and a fine of not less than one hundred thousand Rwandan francs (FRW 100,000) and not more than two hundred thousand Rwandan francs (FRW 200,000). Article 121 on intentional assault or battery stipulates that any person who, willfully, injures, beats or commits any serious violence against another person, commits an offence. Upon conviction, he/she is liable to imprisonment for a term of not less than three (3) years and not more than five (5) years and a fine of not less than five hundred thousand Rwandan francs (FRW 500,000) and not more than one million Rwandan francs (FRW 1,000,000). If the offence is committed against a child, a parent, a spouse or a person unable to protect himself/herself because of his/her physical or mental state, he/she is liable to imprisonment for a term of more than five (5) years and not more than eight (8) years and a fine of not less than one million Rwandan francs (FRW 1,000,000) and not more than two million Rwandan francs (FRW 2,000,000).[5]  Consumption of alcohol might not necessarily be the cause but it can be the catalyst or the motivation.

Family environment and early childhood experiences, can lead to the rise of criminality. Criminologists such as Bowlby, Spitz and Freud all suggest that family environment and early childhood experiences have a tremendous effect on how a child will develop. In his theory of maternal deprivation, Bowlby suggests that criminal behaviour is a product from emotional needs created by early experiences in infancy. In his study of delinquency in criminals, Newburn discovered that almost two fifths of the group had experienced a significant disruption in the relationship with their primary care givers. It is because of the lack of love and supervision the child receives that would push it towards a life of crime as they are more likely to drift towards crime offending groups.[6] Family plays a big role in the shaping of the future responsible adult or a potential future criminal. A big number of criminal associate their acts with childhood abuse, negligence of their parent in raising them among other.  

Let us explore some crimes against persons. Crimes against persons are crimes that are physical, violent, and often have direct impact on the victim. Let’s begin with assault and battery. According[7] to the Rwanda National Police statistics as from July 2014 to June 2015; 3.691 were reported countrywide. Reasons that contribute to the escalation of this offence include; drunkenness, unemployment, mob justice, cruelty, madness, trauma, revenge, breach of trust, use of narcotic drugs like “Muriture, Kanyanga, and cannabis (urumogi), among others. In addition, lack of moral values, increase of poverty, decrease of resources and demographic growth, and people living in slums, increases the likelihood to conflict, thus facilitating the offence of assault and battery.

Solving this problem of criminality it starts on the individual level. First by knowing what is a crime according the existing law, and willingly decide to not do what the law says not to do. The other level is on the family level family members should check each other and make sure that good morals and behaviors starts at home. The other level is the community, this is another crucial place to be to be used to prevent the rise of criminality. Community leaders plays a big role to remind the citizens what is prohibited by the law. The last stage in the country, with its institutions and organizations  they play the biggest role. Starting from putting in place laws and law enforcement organs, adding self-evaluation to perform better this with all mentioned above will lead to a better society free of crimes. And I believe we can achieve that when we all play our role.

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[1] https://www.nppa.gov.rw/index.php?eID=dumpFile&t=f&f=51610&token=8b776a2b98298402f01e11b97d97acda8a8c0d4c

[2] IDEM

[3] https://allafrica.com/stories/202306280313.html

[4] https://www.nppa.gov.rw/index.php?eID=dumpFile&t=f&f=51610&token=8b776a2b98298402f01e11b97d97acda8a8c0d4c

[5] Article 120&121 Nº68/2018 of 30/08/2018 Law determining offences and penalties in general

[6] https://www.nppa.gov.rw/index.php?eID=dumpFile&t=f&f=51610&token=8b776a2b98298402f01e11b97d97acda8a8c0d4c

[7] https://www.nppa.gov.rw/index.php?eID=dumpFile&t=f&f=51610&token=8b776a2b98298402f01e11b97d97acda8a8c0d4c