Should names of convicts’ parents be published?

A database of the Office of the Ombudsman had 1728 people convicted of corruption as of Thursday, August 13, 2020. The list of those convicts was published on its website along with the names of their parents. On the website of the Judiciary of Rwanda, you can find published judgments including those for criminal cases such as murder, rape, and offenses against national security. The names of the convicts for such crimes and those of their parents are contained in the judgments. The Ombudsman, Anastase Murekezi argued that including the names of the parents helps to make unequivocal identification of the convicts. “The issue is that there are many namesakes among Rwandans. And, that is different from some countries where [normally] children take the names from their families (such as parents or grandparents),” Murekezi told The New Times. Meanwhile, he indicated that the decision can make parents make greater efforts in order to ensure that their children have appropriate behaviour so that they do not become a humiliation to them in the society. Faustin Nkusi, the Spokesperson of the National Public Prosecution Authority told The New Times that mentioning the names of the parents is helpful during court proceedings in order to avoid ambiguity in identification. “There are many people who have committed and are charged with crimes such as corruption, embezzlement, and defilement. So we need to know who is the person in question,” he said, underscoring the need to mention the parents’ names during court hearings. “When a person has been found guilty of a crime, they should be exposed. And I think that [inclusion of parents name for convicts identification purpose] has no effect on the parents because they are not the ones who were charged [with the crime].” Harrison Mutabazi, the Judicial Spokesperson told The New Times that it is difficult to clearly identify the suspects or convicts because many people have the same names, a situation which could lead to summoning the wrong person in a court case. “What differentiates a person from another is a full identification which includes their date and place of birth as well as their parents. That clears the confusion,” he said. Law don disagrees Tom Mulisa, a lecturer of constitutional law at the University of Rwanda told The New Times that including the names of the parents of those people convicted within public registers has a big impact on the parents within the community where they live. “The purpose of public shaming or public naming is only deterrence. The parents of those people [convicted of crimes] should not be appearing anywhere in any of those judgments, or any of the public venues because it can cause prejudice or discrimination against them within the communities they are living,” he said. “It’s a principle that crime is personal and individual. So, whenever you expose the person who has committed a crime and include the names of their parents, there can be a negative attitude in the community that would be taken even towards the parents in case their names are involved,” he said. As an alternative, he said that when information on the name of the convict, the function they held and when they held it is available, they can still be identified without revealing the names of their parents. “For instance, if you say so and so who was working in the Ministry of Finance, and was in charge of this type of work between, say, 2019 and 2020, you can’t say that this person is the very person who is working in a district somewhere,” he said.

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Should names of convicts’ parents be published?