Tuesday, Jan. 18

Gary Fallesen

Tuesday, Jan. 18

Charges were filed against Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier and the former Haitian dictator was taken into custody at a Port-au-Prince hotel and transported to a downtown courthouse for a hearing on Tuesday. It was not immediately clear what the charges were and Duvalier was allowed to return to his hotel. A judge will have 30 days to investigate and decide whether the accusations merit moving forward with a case against Duvalier.

“Baby Doc,” the ruthless dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier, returned to Haiti on Sunday after 25 years in exile. The move was a surprise to most and remains a mystery as to why he came back — or if he should have even been allowed.

“Please keep your eye on the news of Haiti,” said our missionary, Miguel Rubén Guante. “The arrival of Duvalier in Port-au-Prince will cause a very big disturbance in Haiti. Just now I'm hearing many comments about that. Right now, when Haiti have a lot of problems, that is not the moment for Duvalier to arrive in Haiti under the purpose to help. Can we ask: how much money he sent after the earthquake? Why he don't return in January 2010? I cannot understand the game of the international community with Haiti.”

Baby Doc succeeded his father Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier, who ruled Haiti from 1957 until his death in 1971. Baby Doc began his rule of Haiti when he was 19. He was in power for 15 years before a revolt forced him to flee the country. Duvalier is accused of killing and torturing thousands and causing hundreds of thousands to flee the country by the group Human Rights Watch. An adviser for Amnesty International also said Baby Doc should be tried for crimes against humanity.

His return comes when a presidential election between former First Lady Mirlande Manigat and pop singer Michel Martelly is pending. Manigat won a preliminary election in early December 2010 with 31.4 percent of the vote. Outgoing president Rene Preval's handpicked successor, Jude Celestin, allegedly finished second with 22.3 percent of the vote, while Martelly was third with 21.8 percent. However, a review of results by an Organization of American States monitoring states confirmed that Martelly was second with 22.2 percent to Celestin's 21.9 percent of the vote.
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