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Haiti: Former Dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier dies
Born in Port-au-Prince on July 3, 1951, the young Duvalier watched the intrigue and paranoia escalate in his father’s 14-year government, which began in 1957 and saw waves of arrests, executions, bombings and 11 failed coups. At the age of 11, he survived an attack that killed three of his bodyguards. In 1986, he was forced into exile in a popular uprising, as pro-democracy forces rallied in the streets amid international condemnation of the rampant human rights abuses during his regime.
Duvalier Haiti for a life of luxury in France, thanks to the hundreds of millions of dollars allegedly pilfered from the coffers of the country. He was said in reports to have looted as much as US$300 million before being forced to flee.
In the late 1990s, former political prisoners brought charges of “crimes against humanity” against Duvalier in a Paris court, claiming they were tortured over a period of years, but the lawsuit later foundered. In 2007, Duvalier called on Haitians to forgive him for “mistakes” committed during his rule, even as the government in power at the time insisted he face trial. After his return, he was charged in a slow-moving prosecution on corruption and embezzlement allegations dating to his years in power. Efforts to bring him to justice became tangled in legal motions and appeals, and proved unsuccessful in the end.
His death deprives Haitians of what could have been the most important human rights trial in the country’s history.
Copyright 2014 AFP
