As a political prisoner in the 1970s at Haiti’s most dreaded lockup, Claude Rosier sat in his squalid, crowded cell and dreamed of the day that tubby, boyish then--Haitian dictator Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier would face justice.
The 79-year-old, who was starved and tortured in the notorious Fort Dimanche and other prisons for nearly 11 years during the 29-year Duvalier family dictatorship, said on Friday he was hopeful that long-awaited day of reckoning may soon be at hand.
“All I hope to see with the Duvalier case is justice. Not just for me, but so history does not repeat itself in Haiti,” Rosier said at a Port-au-Prince hotel, where he joined another former political prisoner and a human rights lawyer to speak about the prosecution of Haiti’s former “president for life.”
Just 19 when he assumed power after the death of his infamous father, Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier, in 1971, Baby Doc’s 15-year rule was marked by torture, extrajudicial executions and the disappearance of hundreds of people. The strict order was enforced by the feared Tonton Macoute secret police, which killed and extorted from countless Haitians.
Duvalier was deposed, put on a US plane and flown in 1986 to France, where he lived in quiet exile ever since — until he stunned the nation by abruptly showing up in his earthquake-shattered homeland last month. He claimed he wanted to help with reconstruction, though some have speculated that he hoped returning might help him unlock millions of dollars frozen in Swiss bank accounts.
Whatever his motivation, the 59-year-old Duvalier now faces an investigation into allegations of corruption and human rights abuses dating to the dictatorship era, and a judge has until April to decide whether it will go to trial.
The complex case is part of a global push to hold former dictators accountable for atrocities during their reigns, Human Rights Watch counsel Reed Brody said, and it could break important new legal ground in Haiti, where the judiciary — like other institutions — is historically weak and ineffective.
“This case provides a real chance to put Haiti’s justice system squarely on the side of those who have suffered under his rule,” Brody said. “It will set a precedent and will be a civics lesson on a very dark period in Haiti’s history.”
“The trees need to be shaken to get people to come forward, even if people are still scared, but I think there’s good evidence so far,” Brody added. “And as far as we can tell, the political will is there ... It’s important that it be carried over into the next government” — a reference to the power transition that should take place in the coming months from Haitian President Rene Preval to his yet-undetermined successor.
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