John and Derrick are seated together in class. Their teacher brings back results of their test and John sees that Derrick has scored zero per cent. John makes fun of Derrick and embarrasses him in front of the whole class by calling him names. Derrick gets angry and beats up John causing him to lose a tooth. In turn, John reports Derrick to the police. However, Derrick receives a lighter punishment than is given to people who have committed violent acts because after explaining the incident, the judge says that Derrick was provoked. The judge’s decision is in line with article 73 of the penal code which says, “Penalties shall be reduced for offenses committed under provocation.” By definition, provocation is action or speech that makes someone annoyed or angry and end up losing self-control especially if it is done deliberately. Article 74 of Rwanda’s penal code says that when someone is provoked, “the judge shall state elements that constitute provocation by the victim and which mitigate the gravity of the offence.” In Derrick’s case, one can say that the victim, John, provoked him into anger by embarrassing him in front of the class and calling him names. However, the punishment for a crime committed under provocation is only reduced if there is evidence of provocation. This is according to article 75 of the penal code. Article 75 further explains how the different sentences are reduced. For instance, if the crime is supposed to be punishable by life imprisonment or life imprisonment with special provisions, paragraph one article 75 of the penal code says that the penalty shall be reduced to imprisonment of two (2) years to five (5) years. An example of a crime that leads to life imprisonment is murder. Paragraph four article 75 of the penal code also provides another example of reduced punishment for a crime. It says, “in case of a petty offence punishable by an imprisonment of less than six (6) months or by only fine, the penalty shall be transformed into community service as an alternative penalty to imprisonment of eight (8) days to two (2) months.” It is important to remember that there is a difference between being given a reduced punishment and being completely forgiven. As if evidenced by the examples provided from the penal code, crimes are punishable even if they are committed under provocation. It is therefore safer to practice self-control.
