In Haiti, four alleged victims have filed human rights complaints against former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier. Known as “Baby Doc,” Duvalier returned to Haiti this past weekend 25 years after a popular uprising forced him into exile. The complaints accuse “Baby Doc” of overseeing crimes against humanity by Haitian forces, including torture.
They come one day after the Haitian government filed charges against Duvalier — but only on allegations of corruption and graft. Michèle Montas, who went on to become a top United Nations official after her imprisonment under Duvalier, was among those to file a complaint.

Michèle Montas: “I think it’s a matter — there are books that have been written about Fort Dimanche, which was that notorious torture place and place where so many people were killed. And even though some of the political prisoners were freed in 1976, some of them arrested in 1976, all this was during the reign of Jean-Claude Duvalier. Yes, there is enough evidence. Yes, there is ground to not only judge Mr. Duvalier on economic crimes, on the fact that, you know, so much came out of the public treasury and was taken into foreign bank accounts, but there is also plenty of ground on human rights accounts.”

Human rights groups have echoed calls to prosecute Duvalier for crimes including state-sponsored killings and torture. In a bizarre twist to the case, Duvalier’s own attorney, Reynold Georges, admitted to being victimized under Duvalier, but said Haiti should “look forward.”

Reynold Georges: “I was arrested under Jean-Claude Duvalier, too. And I was a candidate for congress. I was elected. They didn’t want me to get access to parliament. But I can’t hold that against him. Why? We have to look forward. Now, I am his lawyer.”

Georges has also revealed Duvalier still hopes to return to office. Speaking to Al Jazeera, Georges said, “He is a political man. Every political man has political ambitions.”