Baby Doc Returned to The Land of Dessalines

As far back as the late 1990’s, it has been rumored that Jean-Claude Duvalier, the exiled former Haitian president, who was overthrown by a popular revolt on February 7, 1986, would return to Haiti. As usual, the incessant rumor was met with excitement, scorn or ambivalence depending on the political philosophy of the recipients. Therefore, when the exiled former president-for-life landed at Port-au-Prince’s Toussaint Louverture International Airport on January 16th, no one saw it coming, at least the media and the general population. Just like January 12, 2010, most Haitians alive today will remember where they were on January 16, 2011 upon learning that the worn-out rumor had finally materialized. Fittingly, speculations were rampant because the government seemed as baffled as the general population about Baby Doc’s unannounced arrival, which many see as a destabilizing factor. In that regard, the Préval government exhibited the consistent inertia for which it is renowned whenever the need for political will arises.
Besides the joyous reception of his supporters, many Haitians called it a sick joke; others were ambivalent and still others furious at what they believed was a calculated attempt by the international community and René Préval at distracting the beleaguered population. France, through its ambassador to Haiti, Didier Lebret, categorically denied being in the loop, although Baby Doc Duvalier could not possibly have boarded an Air France plane without the knowledge or consent of the French authorities. Nevertheless, the former president, a Haitian citizen, did not need the approval of anyone or entities to return to the land of Dessalines in light of the fact that no criminal or civil charges were pending against him.
Unsurprisingly, it did not take long for the plantation mentality to show its ugly head. Amnesty International’s Special Advisor, Javier Zuniga, was authoritative in his lecture. “The widespread and systematic human rights violations committed in Haiti during Duvalier’s rule amount to crimes against humanity. Haiti is under the obligation to prosecute him and anyone else responsible for such crimes," said the self-righteous ombudsman. Though many Haitians who suffered under Baby Doc may understandably be reluctant to let go of the past, Zuniga must have forgotten that any prosecution of Duvalier remains an internal matter between Haitians. Moreover, while Zuniga is campaigning against impunity or unaccountability, he might want to look at Gérard Latortue, Haiti’s prime minister (2004-06), whose despotic rule, historians would agree, surpassed that of Baby Doc. Without a doubt, the organization is squandering any residue of credibility it has left by being selective in its generic use of “crimes against humanity” for insidious purposes. Seeing that “crimes against humanity” can be prosecuted in any jurisdiction and Jean-Claude Duvalier lived in France for almost 25 years, Zuniga is barking up the wrong tree.
Meanwhile the fate of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the other exiled former president, remains in political limbo. His repeated requests to renew his passport were turned down by the Haitian government, a clear indication that the 2004 edict of Condoleezza Rice, then-US National Security Adviser, prohibiting the return of Aristide anywhere within the confines of the Western Hemisphere still stands. This selective application of the 1987 Constitution, the Supreme Law of the land, which specifically forbids the exile of any Haitian citizen under any circumstances, is detrimental to the “rule of law” in Haiti, which is widely acknowledged as the missing component in the country’s treacherous road to stability.
In the euphoria or shock over the mysterious return of the exiled former president in Haiti, Haitians failed to notice the obvious. Duvalier is apparently afflicted with a serious illness, possibly terminal, and his return may be a humanitarian gesture by the powers-that-be for services rendered. Bear in mind, he had an expired passport issued by Latortue regime (2004-06) and could not have left France had the French authorities decided otherwise. Nostalgia is a human characteristic but reality is divine. It is absurd for anyone to think that Jean-Claude Duvalier is politically relevant after a 25 year hiatus from power. Though Haiti’s protracted agony makes the option of autocratic rule very appealing, Baby Doc is far from being the ideal candidate, given that his rule (1971-86), unlike that of Papa Doc (1957-71), was devoid of a political philosophy.
Almost sixty-six years after Adolf Hitler committed suicide in Berlin (1945) and fifty-eight years after the death of Joseph Stalin in Moscow (1953), the aspiration to a political renaissance of thousands of Neo-Nazis and Neo-Stalinists is being thwarted by realities in Germany and Russia. Like Neo-Nazism and Neo-Stalinism in Germany and Russia, Duvalierism is a dying political philosophy in Haiti; its supporters, nostalgic and irrelevant.
Those clamoring for the prosecution of Jean-Claude Duvalier were incidentally complicit in his having escaped justice 25 years ago on the ground that his voluntary departure was necessary to avert a bloody rampage by the Tontons Macoutes, an absolute nonsense that was accepted as gospel. As Baby Doc Duvalier said at his press conference “thousands of his supporters were necklaced with burning tires; their homes ransacked and torched”; in other words, justice has already been served. Impunity must indeed be eradicated in Haiti but applying justice must be comprehensive and not limited to one individual, no matter the gravity of the crimes he is accused of, as the country would gain nothing from this cycle of politically-motivated prosecution or revenge. Undoubtedly many are rejoicing, as the current situation validates their contention of Haitians needing supervision.