The Swiss Federal Court has ruled that the USD 5.7 million kept by the Duvalier clan in Swiss bank accounts, frozen since 1986, cannot be returned to Haiti, due to a lack of a criminal procedure against Mr. Duvalier in that country.
Swiss legislation allows for asset recovery procedures without conviction in the victim country only when the assets have been held by a criminal organisation. Although Swiss Courts did not exclude that the Duvalier family had acted as a criminal organisation, it ruled that the statute of limitations for the organised crime charges had run in 2001, 15 years after the overthrow of "Baby Doc" Duvalier as ruler of Haiti in 1986.
In response to the ruling by the Federal Court, the Swiss Government had decided to maintain the Swiss bank accounts frozen. This decision is based on the discretionary powers the Swiss government has on foreign policy matters. The Swiss Government is to present new legislation to Parliament further expanding the law to allow for the freezing and forfeiture of assets stolen from failing states.
This decision issued by the Court must be deplored. It stands in sharp contrast to Switzerland's efforts in many other cases to return proceeds of crime to victim countries, such as in the Abacha case. The International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR) welcomes the decision taken by the Swiss Government and its efforts to present new legislation on the matter. ICAR further requests that such a law be wide enough and be tabled in Parliament immediately.
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