Above: Kyung-what Kang (UN Photo)
Kyung-wha Kang, the UN’s deputy high commissioner for human rights, said the creation of a truth commission would help Haitian victims who suffered during the regime of Jean Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier. There are already ongoing efforts to prosecute Duvalier. “We do not think that this [Duvalier] case and a truth commission are necessarily exclusive,” Kang said. “We do believe that there is a need for a broader coming to terms with the past. And a truth commission would serve that broader purpose, whereas the Duvalier case would focus specifically on the accountability of the leader of what was a very brutal period.” The Swiss government announced in May that it would seize Duvalier’s assets, 25 years after they were first frozen. [AP]