Chronology

1951, July 3 Jean-Claude Duvalier is born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He is son of François Duvalier and Simone Ovide Duvalier.

1957, October 22 François Duvalier, father to Jean-Claude Duvalier, is sworn into office as President of Haiti.

1971, April Jean-Claude Duvalier becomes president of Haiti at age 19, upon the death of his father.

1980, May Jean-Claude Duvalier marries Michèle Bennet Pasquet in an extravagant wedding cerimony, estimated at USD 3 million.

1985-1986 Popular revolts begin in the Haitian provinces. It begins in the city of Gonaïves (known as Haiti's city of independence) with street demonstrations and raids on warehouses. The popular revolt spreads throughout the country.

1986, February 7 Jean-Claude Duvalier flees Haiti in exile to France.

1986, April 4 A Hatian request for mutual legal assistance is received by the Swiss government. The request informs that proceedings against Jean-Claude Duvalier and his family (the Duvalier clan) had been initiated in Haiti for having plundered State coffers with the help of his entourage during his 15 years as President (1971-1986).

1986, June 12 The execution of the request for mutual legal assistance is formally completed. Several accounts held by the Duvalier clan in Zurich, Vaud and Geneva are frozen. These seizures include an account held at UBS by the Brouilly Foundation (incorporated under the laws of Liechtenstein), whose beneficiary was Simone Ovide Duvalier.

1988, June 12 The Examining Magistrate of Geneva orders the transmission of the bank documents to Haiti, upon receiving formal guarantees from Haiti that the procedures against the Duvalier clan would observe due process, the regularity of the procedures, and that special tribunals would not be but in place.

1990, August 27 Haiti issues the formal guarantees requested by Switzerland.

1991, September 30 A military coup d'Etat overthrows President Jean-Bertrand Aristide from power. Aristide had been democratically elected and taken office on 7 February 1991. The Swiss government urged Haiti for new formal guarantees.

1996, November 27 Over 5 years later, Haiti issues new formal guarantees, which is considered valid by the Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) in 15 May 2002. However, the statute of limitations to the charges brought before the Duvalier clan had already run. 

2002, June 14 The Swiss Federal Council declares Haiti a "failing State" after the failure of the mutual legal assistance proceedings, and freezes the assets for 3 years under provisions of the Swiss Constitution. It also mandates the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) to support Haiti and the Duvalier clan in finding a satisfactory solution.

2005, June 3 The Swiss Federal Council extends the seizure of the assets for 2 years. The FDFA steps up its efforts in order to find a solution that would allow for the return of the assets to Haiti before the 31 August 2008 deadline.

2007, August The President of Haiti confirms that proceedings against the Duvalier clan had recommenced on the grounds of misappropriation of public funds. Haiti also reaffirmed the formal guarantees of respecting due process and human rights. FOJ orders the assets belonging to Duvalier be frozen.

2007, August 22 The Swiss Federal Council further extends the seizure for another year, until 31 August 2008. The Duvalier clan appeals this decision to the Swiss Federal Administrative Court.

2008, January 28 The Examining Magistrate of Geneva rules inadmissable the 1986 request for mutual legal assistance closes, on the grounds that the statute of limitations had run (20 years). This order involved notably the assets maintained in the Brouilly Foundation. The assets remain frozen due to the decision issued by the Federal Council on 22 August 2007.

2008, May 23 The Haitian government, represented by a Swiss lawyer, files for judicial review of the court rulings. Haiti argued that there were proceedings against the Duvalier clan in Haiti for crimes against humanity, among other, which had higher statute of limitations. It further argued that the Duvalier clan acted as a criminal organisation, and for this reason the illegal origin of the assets were to be assumed.

2008, June 27 The FOJ considers the new evidence presented by Haiti in their favour, and requests that Haiti demonstrates the existence of a criminal proceeding against the Duvalier clan. The accounts are frozen by the FOJ based on the Swiss Organised Crime legislation, and their owners were invited to prove the legal origin of the assets.

2009, February 11 The FOJ admits the mutual legal assistance request from 12 June 1986, and orders the assets maintained in Swiss bank accounts by the Brouilly Foundation – approximately USD 4.6 million -be returned to Haiti. The FOJ further orders that the assets be used transparently for the benefit of the Haitian people through humanitarian and social programmes. The defence files an appeal to the Federal Criminal Court, which upholds FOJ's decision in August 2009.

2009, August 12 The Brouilly Foundation filed an appeal to the Federal Court.

2010, January 12 The Swiss Federal Court rules that the assets kept by the Duvalier clan in Swiss bank accounts, frozen since 1986, could not be returned to Haiti, primarily due to the fact that the statute of limitations had run. The Federal Court did not call into question the judgement issued by the Federal Criminal Court concerning the criminal origin of the assets.

2010, February 3 The Swiss Federal Council decides to maintain the seizure of the assets belonging to the Duvalier clan based on the Constitution. In view of the criminal origin of these funds, the Federal Council thus avoids releasing the assets for the benefit of the Duvalier clan. At the same time, the Federal Council has instructed the FDFA to complete, by the end of February, its work on drafting a federal law that would allow such assets to be confiscated, and to submit the draft law for consultation.