Where are the older, richer sexual offenders? That is the question activists are grappling with a­fter the National Prosecution Authority made public the list of 322 convicted sex offenders, dominated by domestic workers and young people between the ages of 20-30 years.

“We still see cases where older and richer perpetrators use money and threats to silence victims and their families.

Even when they are reported, they have a way of destroying or tampering with evidence,” said Christopher Sengoga, head of human rights and litigation at Health Development Initiative, a local public health NGO.

“The public needs to be educated about children’s rights and the dangers of having defilement cases rising. If the majority of abusers are not convicted, we are failing these young girls,” Sengoga added.

Of 322 perpetrators on the sex offence registry that was released by the National Prosecution Authority on October 11 as Rwanda celebrated the International Day of the Girl Child, only seven are women, 297 were convicted of defilement and 25 were convicted of rape.

The youngest victim displayed on the list was 1.5 years old while the oldest was 76 years old. The youngest convict is 19 years old and the oldest is 83.

They were convicted of crimes committed between 2001 and 2019. Sixty convicts were sentenced to life imprisonment and others got 5-25 year in jail.

According to the National Prosecution Authority data, of 7,004 reported cases of rape and defi lement in 2019-2020, only half of them were taken to courts and 2,866 perpetrators were convicted.

Faustin Nkusi, National Public Prosecution Authority spokesperson said in an interview that there is a challenge of silence and stigma around sexual abuse cases.

“We have many cases where the victims refuse to report the abusers because they offer money or threaten them. Some families and local leaders also choose to reconcile with perpetrators without reporting them,” Nkusi explained.

Nkusi added that although more needs to be done to address the issue of sexual abuse, the registry will not only serve as a record but also as a way of discouraging and deterring people from committing these crimes.

The sex offence registry consists of only perpetrators who have been convicted of sex offences by the courts irrevocably, meaning they cannot appeal.

However, lawyers have raised concerns that in case a convict wants a retrial, they would have to be removed from the list.

“If a convict completes their sentence, wants a retrial and wins the case, the courts might order a rehabilitation which would include being removed from the list,” said Fautsin Bagabo, a lawyer and lecturer at the University of Rwanda School of Law.

A convicted person in Rwanda is automatically stripped of rights to occupy or campaign for any public position in the government when the sentence exceeds six months. A judge might decide to strip a convict of some particular rights or licences to practice some jobs. For corruption and sexual abuse offences, their names are published in the registries to the public.

The sex offence registry comes as the Ministry of Justice works on a draft law that, if voted, would make sex crimes imprescriptible.

Initially, the crime of Genocide against the Tutsi and corruption were the only imprescriptible crimes or crimes without a statutory limitation.

Others are revoked after 10 years for felonies, three years for misdemeanors and one year for petty offences.

Mr Sengoga commended the move saying that making sexual offenses imprescriptible will ensure justice is served for victims even after years of committing the crime.