海角大神

Can Haiti keep alive memories of 'Baby Doc's' brutal dictatorship?

Victims and survivors of dictator Jean-Claude 'Baby Doc' Duvalier say they fear the truth behind his violent reign are being forgotten in Haiti, where half the population wasn't even born by the time he was forced into exile.

Bobby Duval is not mourning Jean-Claude 鈥淏aby Doc鈥� Duvalier, the former Haitian dictator who died of a heart attack last Saturday. Mr. Duval鈥檚 more inclined to grieve for the more than 180 people he says he saw perish during his eight months at Fort Dimanche 鈥� a notorious prison under the Duvalier dictatorship.

When Mr. Duvalier returned from exile in France three years ago, Duval testified against him, sharing memories of the 13-by-14 foot cell, crammed with dozens of naked men who were weak from disease, abuse, and near-starvation. Duval鈥檚 is among countless repugnant stories of a regime responsible for thousands of deaths, as well as torture, rape, and arbitrary incarceration in the 1970s and 1980s.聽

But for Duval and other victims, what鈥檚 even worse than remembering these atrocities is seeing the country forget.

When Duvalier, the 鈥減resident for life,鈥� was exiled in 1986, people celebrated聽on the streets of Port-au-Prince. Then in 2011, crowds gathered聽at the airport to warmly greet his return. For Duval, it was even more jolting to find Duvalier dining at Haiti鈥檚 top restaurants and being invited to official functions by President Michel Martelly鈥檚 request.

After Duvalier鈥檚 death was announced on Saturday, President Martelly eulogized the former dictator via Twitter as 鈥渁 true son of Haiti.鈥�

Baby Doc wasn鈥檛 Haiti鈥檚 first violent dictator. Together, he and his father, Francois, ruled the Caribbean nation and killed an estimated 60,000 people between 1957 and 1986. But the majority of Haitians weren鈥檛 even born by the time Duvalier was forced into exile, and few are taught about the atrocities committed under the tag-team strongmen. As historic memory erodes, victims and survivors hope Duvalier鈥檚 death can make waves in how the nation remembers him.

鈥淚鈥檓 very concerned [about people forgetting],鈥� Duval says, 鈥渂ecause I don鈥檛 think society as a whole has really gone through fundamental changes.鈥�

'Duty of memory'

At the time of Duvalier鈥檚 death, two trials against him were in the works 鈥撀爋ne on charges of corruption, and another on human rights violations. Many hope the latter will continue against Duvalier鈥檚 collaborators, though victims like Duval are skeptical.

Activists and survivors are trying to ensure the realities of the Duvalier dictatorship are preserved in public memory. The first step was to protest a possible state funeral honoring Baby Doc.

Marie-Marguerite Cleri茅 co-founded the victim鈥檚 group Devoir du M茅moire (Duty of Memory) last year in an effort to commemorate the deaths of Haitians under the Duvalier regime. She hopes their work can 鈥減revent the same tyranny from happening again,鈥� Ms. Cleri茅 says.

Cleri茅 was eight years old in 1963 when her father disappeared, last seen thrown in the trunk of a car by tonton macoutes, Duvalierist goons. She says when she heard of Jean-Claude鈥檚 death she was 鈥渟ubmerged in emotion, all the human emotions鈥� [and] a lot of lingering anger at the very idea of his being honored at a national funeral.鈥�

Her group 聽in the newspaper of record Le Nouvelliste, protesting a state funeral. It was the most viewed page on the newspaper鈥檚 website Thursday morning. The Miami Herald reports that the Martelly administration has agreed not to hold a state funeral.

Still, a fear that Haiti鈥檚 history could be rewritten predates Duvalier鈥檚 death.聽The Devoir du M茅moire letter refers to 鈥渁 campaign to trivialize鈥� Duvalierist crimes since 2011, the year Martelly, a former pop singer, took power, and when his administration allowed Duvalier鈥檚 return.

Survivors say the current administration is made up of a number of former Duvalier collaborators, as well. 鈥淭he Duvalierists are well positioned to erase the memory,鈥� Cleri茅 says.

For younger generations, 'everything is rumor'

What鈥檚 more, nearly are under the age of 25, which mean most weren鈥檛 even born when the Duvalier dictatorship ended in 1986. Official textbooks make little reference to the Duvaliers, and few citizens learn about this dark period in Haiti鈥檚 history.

In fact, some youth know the Jean-Claude Duvalier years as a time of order with less extreme poverty, and growth in manufacturing, construction, and tourism.

Educator Garry D茅lice, who was in school while Baby Doc was in power, remembers learning only good things about the elder Duvalier, and nothing about the son. Even after Baby Doc was flown into exile, Mr. D茅lice says, teachers feared giving lessons on the former dictators.

Today, that fear has largely dissipated, but Haitian history lessons still focus聽largely on national heroes and the founding fathers of the 18th and 19th centuries.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not normal that students don鈥檛 know the history [of the Duvaliers],鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e not critical. Everything is rumor. There are people who say Duvalier was very good, and when Jean-Claude returned to Haiti it was a lot of young people who greeted him.鈥�

Jean-Claude Duval (no relation to Bobby) was still in his mother鈥檚 womb when his father was jailed in Fort Dimanche. His dad was kept there for four years, and, unlike Bobby, he never made it out. 鈥淚t was a regime of terror I grew up in,鈥� Mr. Duval says. 鈥淚 was always afraid.鈥�

Duval hopes to write a book about his family, which was also targeted under Francois Duvalier. 鈥淭he thing I can do [to make a difference] is to teach people, because you have young people who don鈥檛 know what happened, who see Duvalier as just a president.鈥�

Editor's note: A line in the story was changed to clarify the status of Duvalier's legal proceedings.