The dominant narrative on Haiti in mainstream media portrays the Haitian people sitting like bumps on a log while white saviors like Bill Clinton, Paul Farmer, & Sean Penn, the 10,000 NGOs operating there (according to a World Bank report), the UN & international human rights groups work feverishly to set things right. That narrative is not just racist & odious but absolutely dead wrong.
This judgement is confirmed by the current prosecution of US ally & former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier who was run out of the country in 1986 by a popular revolt after 15 years of iron-fisted rule including mass imprisonments, torture, disappearances, & the murder of 30,000 people often buried in mass graves. Duvalier enforced his murderous regime by the use of paramilitary thugs called Tonton Macoutes (which current Haitian president Martelly belonged to in his youth).
When Duvalier returned to Haiti in January 2011 after 25 years of exile in France, he was briefly detained for corruption & embezzling more than $300 million of public money. But a lower court judge in January 2012 rejected charges filed by 25 victims of his violent regime & ruled Duvalier would not face prosecution for human rights crimes since the statute of limitations had expired. Of course there is no such statute of limitations--so the victims appealed the judge’s decision & an appeals court is now adjudicating whether Duvalier can be charged with the human rights crimes.
Most media accounts omit even mentioning the appeal & suggest the appellate court action was due mainly to protests by the UN high commissioner for human rights & international human rights groups. Public pressure by these groups is important; amicus curiae briefs would be better & there is no word if the UN & human rights groups have provided them. There are claims the US government is obstructing justice in the prosecution of Duvalier by withholding documents & of course this is beyond dispute since the Duvalier regime was backed to the hilt by the US. Any close examination of his human rights crimes will expose the shadow of the US.
Duvalier, who has been living in a posh villa since his return, has not been treated as a pariah but publicly lauded by Martelly, the Clintons, & Sean Penn who all say now is not the time for prosecution but for “reconciliation.” At last year’s commemoration of the 2010 earthquake he shared the dais with Martelly & Clinton & reportedly dines in posh restaurants with Penn. But that kind of “reconciliation” doesn’t mean squat. Prosecuting him for his crimes, exposing all those involved, filing charges against his cohorts, & bringing justice to his victims is the only kind of reconciliation that is worth a damn.
Duvalier, confident of continuing impunity, defied an appellate court order by boycotting three hearings & appears here (sweating like a warthog) only after the judge threatened to have cops drag his ass into court. We don’t know much about the 25 Haitians charging Duvalier except for 74-year-old Nicole Magloire, a Haitian gynecologist & political activist imprisoned under Duvalier & deported to Canada in 1980. Our fullest solidarity with their efforts to bring some justice to the victims of Duvalier.
No US aid to Haiti! US hands off Haiti! No impunity for dictators!
(Photo by Swoan Parker/Reuters)
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