PORT-AU-PRINCE - The Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti (IJDH) and the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI) call on the Government of the Republic of Haiti to comply with Haitian law and arrest ex-President Jean-Claude Duvalier, who has returned to Haiti on a commercial flight.
IJDH and the BAI note that the extensive legal documentation of Mr. Duvalier’s crimes includes:
A July 3, 2009 order from the First Court of Public Law, of the Federal Court of Switzerland, which notes that the Haitian government had informed it of current criminal proceedings against Mr. Duvalier as late as June 2008;
The Decision of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Jean-Juste v. Duvalier, No. 86–0459, dated January 8, 1988, finding Mr. Duvalier liable for over $500,000,000 for his misappropriation of public monies for his personal use; and
An extensive accounting of Mr. Duvalier’s misappropriation of public funds conducted for the Haitian government by a U.S. accounting firm between 1986 and 1990, establishing the theft of over $300,000,000 U.S.D. of public funds.
This legal documentation is supplemented by an extensive public record of Mr. Duvalier’s human rights violations, including the torture and disappearances of political dissidents at the Fort Dimanche prison and other crimes committed by organizations under his control, including the Armed Forces of Haiti and the Volunteers for National Security.
Mr. Duvalier is not protected against prosecution by any statutes of limitations. According to Article 466 of the Haitian Code of Criminal Procedure, the proceedings for misappropriation of funds are not proscribed because of the continuing prosecution of the case from 1986 to 2008. The political killings and torture are not proscribed because they are crimes against humanity, which are imprescriptible under international law.
The BAI and IJDH believe that if there are not any arrest warrants outstanding against Mr. Duvalier, that the information available in existing legal proceedings and Mr. Duvalier’s 25-year flight from Haitian justice clearly justify the immediate issuance and execution of an arrest warrant. The BAI and IJDH offer their assistance, including their extensive documentation of Mr. Duvalier’s crimes, to Haitian authorities conducting a serious investigation.
UPDATE - Duvalier has since been arrested:
In response to the arrest of Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier in Haiti, Amnesty International’s Senior Advisor and Haiti expert, Javier Zuñiga, said:
“The arrest of Jean-Claude Duvalier is a positive step but it is not enough to charge him only with corruption.”
“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.”
Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with more than 2.8 million supporters, activists and volunteers who campaign for universal human rights from more than 150 countries. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied.
Javier Zuñiga, Special Advisor at Amnesty International, currently in London, and Gerardo Ducos, Haiti researcher at Amnesty International, currently in Port-au-Prince, are available for comment.