UN official presses for truth panel on Duvalier
By TRENTON DANIEL, Associated Press – 11 hours ago
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — The creation of a truth commission would help promote reconciliation for Haitian victims who suffered during the dictatorship of Jean-Claude Duvalier, a U.N. human rights official said Tuesday.
The U.N.’s Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Kyung-wha Kang, said at a press conference that the panel wouldn’t replace ongoing efforts to prosecute Duvalier, a former despot known as “Baby Doc,” but would work alongside them.
More than 20 lawsuits have been filed in a Haitian court against Duvalier for crimes ranging from attempted murder and torture to embezzlement since he made an unexpected return to his homeland in January after 25 years in exile.
“We do not think that this (Duvalier) case and a truth commission are necessarily exclusive,” Kang told The Associated Press. “We do believe that there is a need for a broader coming to terms with the past. And a truth commission would serve that broader purpose whereas the Duvalier case would focus specifically on the accountability of the leader of what was a very brutal period.”
Upon his return, criminal charges were brought against Duvalier and a judge placed him under house arrest though he’s been seen dining with friends at high-end restaurants in the hills above Port-au-Prince.
The case has moved at a sluggish pace. Duvalier has answered questions before an investigating judge twice since May.
Advocacy groups say the case could break important new legal ground in Haiti, where the judiciary like other institutions is historically weak and ineffective.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said in January that he offered to assist in the prosecution, saying the alleged crimes have no statute of limitations.
Defense attorney Reynold Georges said the statute of limitations had expired and that he opposed the creation of a truth commission.
“I totally disapprove,” Georges said by telephone. “We have our own legal system, and we’re going to stick to it. … Love (Duvalier) or leave the country.”
So far in her four-day visit, Kang said she met with Martelly, Haitian lawmakers, diplomats and rights advocates. She said she also met with a group of plaintiffs on the Duvalier case.
The topic of the Duvalier case did not come up in her meeting with the president, she said.
Before he was sworn in on May 14, Martelly told a Montreal French-language newspaper that he was open to the idea of considering amnesty for Duvalier, citing a need for national reconciliation. Martelly has aligned himself with Duvalier allies, including Daniel Supplice, a minister of social affairs under Duvalier who now runs Martelly’s transition team.
Bobby Duval, a former soccer star who’s among the plaintiffs, said he welcomed the idea of a truth commission, along with prosecution. .
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COMMENT: HAITIAN-TRUTH.ORG
Se pou yo kreye yon komisyon verite sou tout dechoukaj 1986 yo, jouk pou rive 2011.Tout moun ki viktim anba men kriminel sa yo dwe pote plent devan lajistis pou akte ak konplis tout zak krim kont limanite sa yo tou. Pesonn pa piwo pase lalwa. Piga pesonn konpran ke chodye ya pral bouyi yon sel bo.Nou ke kominote entenasyonal la pa di anyen sou Aristid ak preval.Bagay sa a, konpotman sa a paret sispek.
Mwen pap defann okenn kriminel, ni sou epok Duvalier, ni sou gouvenman apre Duvalier yo. Tout moun dwe jije pou zak yo te komet.Nou pa kapab ap danse kole ak dyab epi pou nou di ke nou pa konnen dyab.Sistem ipokrizi sa a dwe jwenn bout li.Nou pap tolere okenn sistem jistis entenasyonal k ap vin karese kriminel nan peyi a. Kominote entenasyonal la dwe fe travay li kom sa dwa, san patipri.
Si yo pa fe mare Aristide – preval rapid rapid, yo dwe kanpe sou pwosesis jijman Duvalier yo tou rapid rapid.Tout gouvenman ki monte nan peyi a, depi tikonkonm t ap goumen ak berejen, se te toujou kominote entenasyonal la ki t ap founi yo mwayen pou yo maspinen tout moun ki pa t dako ak yo. Jodi a, menm kominote entenasyonal la pa kapab jwi okenn respe douvan moun ki genyen tet yo byen plase sou zepol yo.
Bon, kiyes moun sa yo ap vin kraponnen la a? Kisa madanm sa a di tou pou krim kont limanite ke kominote entenasyonal la responsab nan peyi a nan ka enpotasyon maladi kolera a, ke moun nasyozini yo flanke nan mitan popilasyon an pou fe revanj pou sa ki te rive kolon franse yo atrave lafyev jon ki te tonbe so kriminel sa yo ki t ap masakre esklav Sendomeng yo?
Komsi, yo tout moun pou enbesil? Komsi ogan nasyonzini an se byen prive yo li ye? Komsi Ayiti pa yon manm aparantye nan Nasyonzini menm jan ak tout lot nasyon?
Yo met pare tann nou. N ap etidye estrateji pou nou pase kod nan kou tout konplis, tout koupab, nan tout nivo pou table pwop sistem jistis pa nou pou pini yo epi pou nou jwenn reparasyon pou tout moun ki viktim anba zagoloray sa yo nan tout peyi sou late tankou, moun ras nou yo nan peyi Wannda.
Minustah vyole, piye, masakre, pep la , epi pesonn pa di anyen sou sa. Komsi, Ayisyen se chen?
Nou rpal konnen ant grenn piman ak po piman an, kiyes ki pi pike tande.
Si zanset nou pat pe vakabon sa yo depi tan lesklavaj, poukisa yo vle konprann ke nou menm jodi a pou nou ta pe fe fas kare ak yo?