Haitian journalist Michele Montas and three other activists Haitian human rights complaint filed on Wednesday, with the Haitian justice for crimes against humanity against Jean-Claude Duvalier, aka "Baby Doc", the ex- Haitian dictator who made a surprise return to Port-au-Prince last Sunday.
"I considered his comeback as a slap, Michele Montas told France24.com, reached by telephone in the Haitian capital.Many Haitians have been affected by the regime of Jean-Claude Duvalier ... He thought he could return to Haiti and get away with it! "
Michele Montas was a journalist at Radio Haiti-Inter in the first ten years of the dictatorship of Jean-Claude Duvalier (1971-1986). She and her husband - Jean Dominique, a prominent Haitian journalist murdered in 2000 - had to flee the country in November 1980 when they adopted a tone very critical of the government.They could not return until 1986, after the departure of Duvalier's son.
Asked about the "crime against humanity" which is the subject complaint, Ms. Montas said that "in the late 1980s, there were widespread raids activists in human rights and journalists. people were tortured, they took everything that moved. And Radio Haiti was destroyed. " Jean-Claude Duvalier became famous for the many atrocities that were committed under his regime, thousands of opponents are arbitrarily detained and tortured.Some were even murdered.
Tuesday night, "Baby Doc" has already been indicted by a Haitian court for criminal conspiracy, embezzlement and corruption in public administration.
Claude Rosiers, 11 years in prison Duvalier
Asked about the complaint by the special correspondent for FRANCE 24 in Port-au-Prince, Alexandra Fox, a lawyer Jean-Claude Duvalier has denounced "a fanciful action.Earlier, another adviser to the former dictator had explained that it would remain "forever" in Haiti, where he wanted to "play politics".
Furthermore Michele Montas, three other prominent Haitians have filed complaints against "Baby Doc" for crimes against humanity: the president of the National Commission for Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (NCDDR), Alix Fils-Aime, the former political prisoner Claude roses, and feminist activist Nicole Magloire.
Under the title "The Triangle of Death" (2003), Claude Rosiers has published an account of his ten years in the jails of Francois and Jean-Claude Duvalier, between 1966 and 1977, when he was a Party activist People's National Liberation (PPLN), a Marxist party.
The four complaints will be heard by Judge John Carver, who is shortly to convene the complainants and especially examine the documentary evidence of the charges against Jean-Claude Duvalier.
"Widespread and systematic violations of fundamental rights"
Since the return of the former dictator in Haiti, many voices were raised to demand his arrest, including Amnesty International, the National Network of Human rights (RNDDH-Haiti), or the rights of the Ecumenical Centre Rights (ECHR) of Haiti.
Yesterday, Haitian France24 Observers demanded that "he be tried for his crimes."
In a statement released Wednesday morning, Amnesty International calls on what is brought to justice "a leader whose security services [were] engaged in widespread and systematic violations of fundamental rights" and the Haitian authorities to "investigate Jean-Claude Duvalier and other persons who may have been responsible for such crimes, some of which amount to crimes against humanity. "
France24.com joined Wednesday by Amnesty International says the International Criminal Court (ICC) can not be seized of the case Duvalier, the facts alleged against him being prior to its creation in 1998.
