Waiving visitation rights for hardcore criminals an issue

During last week’s presidential press conference, I listened with silent discomfort as a journalist said that families of convicts were complaining that the government’s move to adopt the special life imprisonment for habitual criminals was unfair. The journalist argued that the special life imprisonment under the Recidivist Bill, denies people chance to visit their incarcerated relatives. Understandably, most of the inmates who will be affected by this bill are those who were in jail for capital crimes and were released but repeated similar crimes and were thus rearrested. Well, there is nothing wrong with pardoning convicts but in a situation where some hardcore criminals have gone back and killed survivors, agitating for their visitation rights can be seen as an attempt to trivialise their crimes. Rwandans have not forgotten the fact that these people shed blood of hundreds of innocent people in 1994. Only last month, a notorious criminal in Gakenke district murdered his step mother and two half sisters and he declared that he deserved a death sentence! While people’s rights should be respected, the fact that many genocide criminals are not remorseful, I do believe that in the absence of the death penalty, special life imprisonment for such people is the right answer. However, instead of dwelling on whether the bill violates any rights, the debate should focus on why some people continue to commit grave crimes even after being released. Is it the lack of reform while in the cells that is responsible? Maybe the continued criminal tendencies are a manifestation of the unyielding nature of the hearts of some of these people. And arguing in favour of the convicts’ families is unfair, and lacking in consideration for the aggrieved parties. I believe that when the government abolished the death penalty it didn’t anticipate that criminals would take advantage of its absence. Whoever complains about the bill should also know that there are calls by some survivors, and other activists for government to reinstate the death penalty, which is quite possible, as the President also pointed out at the press conference. The agitation for its reinstatement is because there are days when former genocide convicts kill survivors especially during the genocide commemoration period. Such criminals deserve nothing less than death penalty for continuing to take lives crimes at a time when the government is promoting unity among Rwandans. Apparently the new law currently only applies to individuals convicted by Rwandan courts, but my suggestion is that they amend it to include those convicted outside the country. It’s highly plausible that habitual criminals are driven by the fact due to the absence of the death penalty no strong punishment will be taken against them. They know that they can benefit from any of the following: presidential pardon, conditional release, rehabilitation or parole which will no longer be possible with the life sentence with special provision. The danger associated with former convicts repeating crimes is that survivors with legitimate anger may be forced to take the law into their own hands after feeling disappointed by the legal process. If 15 years after the 1994 Genocide, people have the audacity to kill others on ethnic grounds what choice would one have? Whereas they expressed remorse to get pardoned, and promised to reconcile with survivors and to reveal where bodies of genocide victims were dumped, some are still bent on their agenda of extermination. They murder, harass and maim survivors and destroy their banana plantations. The hardcore criminals engage in all these crimes because they know that they will get a sentence that they will serve and walk free after a short period of time. I believe a person on special incarceration would probably get reformed after time of isolation- maybe they will get time to have a bit of introspection and get a change of heart. jtasamba@gmail.com