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Dev-News News Desk| East Africa. Urge- DevWire

Rwanda Considers Removing Statute of Limitations on Human Trafficking Prosecutions

Kigali, Rwanda | 25 July 2026

Rwanda is considering legislation to remove the statute of limitations on human trafficking offences, which would allow prosecutions regardless of when the crime occurred, according to reporting carried on 25 July. The proposal follows Justice Minister and Attorney General Emmanuel Ugirashebuja's disclosure to the Senate days earlier that Rwanda has repatriated 289 trafficking victims from Cambodia, Oman, Laos and Myanmar since 2025, while only 54 suspects have been prosecuted over the past three years.

The reform is intended to close prosecutorial gaps in cases that can take years to investigate across multiple jurisdictions, during which evidence and witness availability often lapse under standard limitation periods. If adopted, it would strengthen Rwanda's institutional response to a policy area that international trafficking in persons assessments have previously flagged as showing a wide gap between identified cases and secured convictions.

Source: The New Times (Kigali)

Dev-News Desk| East Africa. Urge- DevWire