(Mexico City, Washington, DC, Quebec City, and Paris, February 19, 2016) \u2013 The current critical political situation in Haiti should not be used as an excuse to deny justice to the victims of human rights violations during the regime of Jean-Claude Duvalier, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, FIDH, and Lawyers Without Boarders Canada (LWBC)\u00a0 said today. February 20, 2016, is the second anniversary of a judicial decision that re-opened the investigation against Duvalier \u2013 who passed away in October 2014 \u2013 and his subordinates.<\/p>\n
On February 20, 2014, the Port-au-Prince Court of Appeal re-established the accusations of crimes against humanity and crimes related to serious human rights abuses against Duvalier and others by appointing one of its sitting judges to investigate the allegations further. However, no results have been made public so far.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe victims of the brutal crimes of the Duvalier regime and their families have been waiting three decades for justice,\u201d said Amanda Klasing, women\u2019s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. \u201cHaitian officials and their international allies should make certain that even in this time of political uncertainty this investigation doesn\u2019t fall off the radar screen.\u201d<\/p>\n
For over a year, Haiti has been sinking into a political crisis, which left the country with no functional parliament throughout 2015 and with no elected successor when President Michel Martelly\u2019s term expired on February 7. As a result of the crisis, many judges have had to spend considerable time overseeing electoral disputes and no new judges have been appointed, as there is no functioning body with the authority to appoint them. This has had a direct impact on the capacity of the judicial system to provide proper administration of justice.<\/p>\n
The Court of Appeal decision reversed a January 2012 ruling by an investigative judge. That ruling said that Duvalier could not be charged with crimes against humanity or other crimes filed by victims of enforced disappearances and torture during his 1971 \u2013 1986 rule, because the legal time limit for the prosecution of those offenses had passed and that crimes against humanity were not criminal under national legislation when these crimes were perpetrated.<\/p>\n
Following Duvalier\u2019s death in October 2014, many national and international organizations, as well as the United Nations Independent Expert on the human rights situation in Haiti and the UN Human Rights Committee, reminded Haitian authorities of their obligation to continue legal proceedings against Duvalier\u2019s subordinates. Several officials in Duvalier\u2019s administration had been named by the victims in their complaints together with Duvalier. Some were quoted in the 2014 Court of Appeal\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n
The Court of Appeal\u2019s judge tasked to carry out the additional investigation did continue after Duvalier\u2019s death to interview victims and witnesses. \u201cHowever, significant steps still need to be taken in order to finalize the investigation, establish individual criminal liability of Duvalier\u2019s subordinates, and ultimately conduct a fair and impartial trial,\u201d said Pascal Paradis, LWBC director general.<\/p>\n
\u201cContinued delay in completing the investigation against Duvalier\u2019s named co-defendants demonstrates limited will on behalf of Haitian authorities to prosecute those responsible of human rights violations under Duvalier\u2019s regime,\u201d Pierre Esperance, secretary general of FIDH, said.<\/p>\n
The government has not allocated additional resources to the investigating judge of the Court of Appeal to ensure he is equipped to carry out a complex investigation of this kind. Despite his multiple requests to the Supreme Council on Judicial Powers, his duties have not been adjusted to allow him to focus on this case. No special measure is known to have been taken to protect the judge or the victims and witnesses involved in the case.<\/p>\n
This lack of political will has been aggravated by the political situation in Haiti, as the authorities have been largely focused on disputes over legislative, presidential and municipal elections, and on negotiating solutions to solve the political crisis. There have been only minimal efforts to address outstanding human rights issues, such as advancing the fight against impunity and, in particular, the investigation of Duvalier\u2019s subordinates.<\/p>\n
Following the election by parliament of an interim president on February 14, 2016, the interim authorities should ensure that all victims of human rights violations during the Duvalier era and their families can exercise their right to truth, justice, and reparation, including compensation and other benefits, the four organizations said. The interim authorities should ensure that the judicial investigator has adequate and sufficient resources to continue the investigation and that the investigation and any future proceedings in the case are handled fairly and without political interference.<\/p>\n
\u201cA fair and just conclusion to the Duvalier case could go a long wait to increase Haitians\u2019 confidence that justice is within their reach,\u201d Erika Guevara Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International said. \u201cThe interim authorities should make certain that the Duvalier investigation and case can promptly move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
(Mexico City, Washington, DC, Quebec City, and Paris, February 19, 2016) \u2013 The current critical political situation in Haiti should not be used as an excuse to deny justice to the victims of human rights violations during the regime of Jean-Claude Duvalier, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, FIDH, and Lawyers Without Boarders Canada (LWBC)\u00a0 said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[541],"tags":[],"ji_location":[2263],"class_list":["post-26112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tribunals","ji_location-haiti"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n