Haiti Charges Baby Doc Duvalier with Embezzlement and Corruption

Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier has returned to Haiti after 24 years in exile. At 19, he inherited the dictatorship with which his father, "Papa Doc," made Haiti one of the most unhappy places in the world. Quite what possessed him to return is unclear; he says he wants to help his country after last year's earthquake (seems he has arrived a bit late). He spent most of yesterday in a court room, and his defense attorney Gervais Charles says the former president-for-life faces charges of embezzlement and corruption. This journal would probably add murder to the list of charges.

Haiti is in the midst of a political crisis, which may have factored into the ex-dictator's decision to return. The first round of presidential elections on November 28 were inconclusive, forcing a run-off that was to be held this week. The trouble is the electoral authorities have failed to determine whose names should appear on the ballot paper for the second go-round. Baby Doc may have been convinced by supporters of his family to return in the hopes of sparking some kind of restoration. Not to put too fine a point on it, that would be an unmitigated disaster.

From 1957 on, Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier ran Haiti like his own plantation. When he died in 1971, his son took over. From 1959 on, Haiti was terrorized by the Duvalier family's private Gestapo known as the Tontons Macoutes. Torture and murder of opponents of the family was commonplace, and as many as 30,000 died under their misrule. Reports of drug trading to keep the treasury (which doubled as the Duvaliers' piggy bank) full are quite plausible. In short, the only difference between the Duvaliers of Haiti and the Kims of North Korea is scale.

Amnesty International issued a statement yesterday that summed up how this journal views the case, "If true justice is to be done in Haiti, the Haitian authorities need to open a criminal investigation into Duvalier's responsibility for the multitude of human rights abuses that were committed under his rule including torture, arbitrary detentions, rape, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions." Unfortunately, that may not happen.

The sad truth is that Haiti's judiciary, along with the rest of its governmental apparatus, has yet to recover from the earthquake that rocked the nation last year. Gianni Maggazini, a senior official with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Right, opined that the international offers of support for Haiti "need to be translated into action." He added, "The judicial system in Haiti needs as much support as possible."

While it is true that any case would best be tried in Haiti, the scene of the alleged crimes, the actions of the Duvaliers and the Tontons Macoutes all those years represent crimes against humanity. The Haitian people deserve justice, and if the courts in that country are incapable of providing it, then international law allows for other authorities to provide it in this sort of case. The world community should let the Haitian system work through this, and if it succeeds in trying Mr. Duvalier, that would be wonderful. If it cannot, the UN or OAS must step up and authorize a court to do so.

© Copyright 2011 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.

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