PORT-AU-PRINCE – Human rights groups yesterday demanded the arrest former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier for crimes against humanity after his surprise return from 25 years in exile, which strained an edgy political atmosphere in the volatile Caribbean state.
Analysts said the unexpected arrival in Port-au-Prince on Sunday of “Baby Doc” Duvalier, who had fled his homeland in 1986 to escape a popular revolt, could only complicate the climate of nervous uncertainty in earthquake-battered Haiti. Tensions in the impoverished nation are running high following chaotic and inconclusive November 28th elections.
“Duvalier’s return to Haiti should be for one purpose only: to face justice,” said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director of US-based Human Rights Watch. It and Amnesty International said Duvalier (59), should be brought to trial for the killings and torture of thousands of opponents at the hands of the thuggish Tonton Macoutes militia during his 15 years in power.
“The widespread and systematic human rights violations committed in Haiti during Duvalier’s rule amount to crimes against humanity,” said Javier Zuniga, special advisor at Amnesty International.
A horde of journalists packed the hotel in the capital’s Petionville district where Duvalier and his wife were staying. But an aide to the former ruler said a news conference scheduled for yesterday was being postponed to today.
Indian UN police guarded the entrance to the hotel. It was not clear how long Duvalier would stay, although some reports said he planned only a short visit.
Hundreds of supporters were at Port-au-Prince airport on Sunday to greet Duvalier, who arrived on an Air France flight from Paris with his French wife, Veronique Roy.
As a chubby playboy and the world’s youngest head of state at 19, Duvalier assumed power in Haiti in 1971 on the death of his father, the feared dictator Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier. “Baby Doc” continued the Duvalier dynasty until going into exile in France in 1986. Duvalier said on Sunday he had returned to show solidarity to the people of Haiti, the poorest state in the Western Hemisphere. He said he wanted to participate in Haiti’s “rebirth.”
– (Reuters)