Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Jean-Claude 'Baby Doc' Duvalier is dead. Will not be missed.
#2
Haiti: Justice Denied by Duvalier's Death

Ex-Dictator Under Investigation for Crimes Against Humanity
October 4, 2014


(New York) The inability of Haiti's courts to bring to trial former dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier deprived his countless Haitian victims of the justice they sought, Human Rights Watch said today. Duvalier's death was reported on October 4, 2014.

"It's a shame that the Haitian justice system could not bring Baby Doc Duvalier to trial before he died," said Reed Brody, special counsel at Human Rights Watch, who worked with Duvalier's victims. "Duvalier's death robs Haiti of what could have been the most important human rights trial in its history."

Duvalier inherited power from his father, the dictator François "Papa Doc" Duvalier, and ruled Haiti from 1971 to 1986. During the son's rule, Haiti was marked by systematic human rights violations. Hundreds of political prisoners held in a network of prisons known as the "triangle of death" died from their extraordinarily cruel treatment. Others were victims of extrajudicial killings. Duvalier's government repeatedly closed independent newspapers and radio stations. Journalists were beaten, and in some cases tortured, jailed, or forced into exile.

When "Baby Doc" Duvalier made a surprise return to Haiti on January 16, 2011, following a 25-year exile in France, the authorities reopened a criminal case against him. In January 2012, an investigating judge ruled that the statute of limitations had expired on the human rights crimes of which he was accused. His victims appealed. In February 2013, an appeals court ordered Duvalier to testify, as did many of his government's victims, but only in February 2014 did the court re-instate the charges, saying that international law barred the use of statute of limitations for crimes against humanity. One of the appeals court judges took over the investigation and was interviewing victims and witnesses when Duvalier died.

"Duvalier's court appearance in 2013 to be questioned about his alleged crimes was a critical moment in a country where the rich and powerful have always been above the law," said Brody. "A fair trial for Duvalier could have ended the impunity that has characterized Haiti's past and will likely plague its future."

A Human Rights Watch report, "Haiti's Rendezvous With History: The Case of Jean-Claude Duvalier," examined the legal and practical questions surrounding the case and concluded that Haiti had an obligation under international law to investigate and prosecute the grave violations of human rights under Duvalier's rule. The report, published in April 2011, also addressed Haiti's capacity to carry out the trial, the question of the statute of limitations, and Duvalier's personal involvement in alleged criminal acts.

"A Haitian proverb says He who gives the blow forgets; he who carries the scar remembers,'" Brody said. "Duvalier may have forgotten the blows he gave to the Haitian people, but his victims remember."

http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/10/04/haiti...er-s-death
"The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it." Karl Marx

"He would, wouldn't he?" Mandy Rice-Davies. When asked in court whether she knew that Lord Astor had denied having sex with her.

“I think it would be a good idea” Ghandi, when asked about Western Civilisation.
Reply


Messages In This Thread
Jean-Claude 'Baby Doc' Duvalier is dead. Will not be missed. - by Magda Hassan - 05-10-2014, 12:42 PM

Possibly Related Threads…
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  Zbigniew Brzezinski is dead Magda Hassan 2 14,744 27-05-2017, 09:37 AM
Last Post: Peter Lemkin
  At least 39 dead in Istanbul shooting by 'Santa' gunman Peter Lemkin 3 8,286 01-01-2017, 08:36 PM
Last Post: Peter Lemkin
  Son of Hitler's/Nazi Art Dealer Dead Shortly After Coming to Public Attention Peter Lemkin 15 12,154 29-12-2014, 11:03 AM
Last Post: Peter Lemkin
  Nancy Wake ("The White Mouse"), celebrated WWII resistance fighter, dead at 98 Ed Jewett 1 4,449 09-08-2011, 08:41 AM
Last Post: Magda Hassan
  Gil Scott-Heron, the poet, musician, activist, humantirian, hero is dead at 62. Magda Hassan 5 4,656 29-05-2011, 11:21 PM
Last Post: Magda Hassan
  Augustus Owsley Stanley III, LSD Chef Also Known as Bear, is Dead at 76 Magda Hassan 11 9,462 20-05-2011, 05:49 PM
Last Post: Keith Millea
  Richard Holbrooke Dead Ed Jewett 7 6,851 14-01-2011, 09:56 PM
Last Post: Jan Klimkowski
  Chalmers Johnson Is Dead Peter Lemkin 2 3,835 22-11-2010, 08:45 PM
Last Post: Keith Millea
  The Moscow talks in 1939: a missed chance Magda Hassan 1 3,337 14-05-2009, 06:42 PM
Last Post: Jan Klimkowski
  "Deep Throat" dead at 95. Mark Felt dies. Magda Hassan 5 7,888 20-12-2008, 03:37 PM
Last Post: Peter Lemkin

Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)