The new Swiss law on returning illicit dictator funds has come into force, providing a new framework for the restitution of assets to failed states.
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The law was formulated to help deal with cases such as that of former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier. Some SFr6 million ($6.2 million) linked to “Baby Doc” have been frozen in Switzerland since 1986.
A spokeswoman for the Swiss Foreign Ministry confirmed to swissinfo.ch that the accounts are now blocked under the new law and the way is now open forthe Swiss government to begin the process of confiscating the Duvalier funds and returning the money to the people of Haiti.
Under the law, the cabinet can block contentious assets and will have up to ten years to launch action to confiscate the assets once they have been blocked. The confiscation of assets must be declared by the Federal Administrative Court.
It will be used when dealing with cases “where a request for mutual assistance cannot succeed in the requesting state due to the failure of its judicial system.”
In an interview with the Spanish-language television channel Univision on Tuesday, Duvalier said the frozen funds belonged to a foundation and if released, the “majority” would be used to rebuild the town where his mother was born.
The Duvalier family will have to prove that the funds were legally obtained in order for them to be released.
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The law comes into force on February 1, and although applicable to assets stashed away by all autocrats, it was tailor-made to deal with the ongoing freeze of assets deposited in Switzerland by former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier. After it was announced in September, Mark Vlasic, the international legal advisor to a team acting to…
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Valentin Zellweger, the new head of international law at the Swiss foreign ministry, met international reporters in Geneva on Wednesday to discuss a new draft law to help return ill-gotten gains deposited in Swiss banks. Over the past 15 years Switzerland has returned over SFr1.7 billion ($1.57 billion) misappropriated and deposited in Swiss banks by…
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Thomas Kern has documented the daily struggle of Haitians since 1997. These pictures show the difficulties ordinary people face as well as their relationship with voodoo religion. Thomas Kern works as a picture editor for swissinfo.ch and as a freelance photgrapher.
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.