"Baby Doc" Duvalier Arrested, Charged With Corruption

Haiti's former dictator was arrested at his Port-au-Prince hotel Tuesday after making a shock return after 25 years in exile.

What was he thinking? For 25 years Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier avoided prosecution for crimes he committed as Haiti’s self-appointed “president-for-life,” only to voluntarily return from exile on Sunday. Tuesday he was arrested by Haitian police and has now been charged with corruption, theft, and misappropriation of funds during his 15-year reign, which began when his father, the infamous Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier died in 1971. Activist groups are pushing for human rights charges to also be laid against Duvalier. It’s widely believed he used his secret police force, known as the Tonton Macoute, to terrorize the civilian population and carry out politically motivated murders, torture, and rape.