MICHEL FORST FORST CONCERNED ABOUT THE CHARGES AGAINST DUVALIER
(Haiti Libre) -
Arriving yesterday in Haiti, Michel Forst, the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Haiti, said he was particularly concerned about the announcements made by several sources, according to which, the former President Jean-Claude Duvalier could be indicted only for charges of financial crimes, and not for the numerous violations of human rights that occurred during the years of his presidency.
"I arrived today in Port-Au-Prince for a mission of 8 days to assess the progress made in the field of human rights in Haiti, and the question of the fight against impunity is one of my priorities. If the information concerning Jean-Claude Duvalier is confirmed, this would bring a very serious blow to the credibility of the process of judicial reform in Haiti," declared Mr. Michel Forst as he stepped off the plane.
"The existence of crimes committed by the Duvalier regime is well established and has been confirmed, on many occasions particularly by the annual reports of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights from 1970 to 1986. The families of victims who have complained since the return of Jean-Claude Duvalier to Haiti provided to judicial authorities the information necessary to refer the former president before the Criminal Court for trial [...]"
The Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Haiti stated that the invocation of provisions of section 466 of the Haitian Criminal Code on the prescription is not an obstacle to prosecution, since international law prohibits amnesty or application of the prescription for those accused of crimes against humanity.
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