Forty Years On, Switzerland Still Sits On Haiti's Duvalier Millions

(MENAFN- Swissinfo) Switzerland prides itself on returning assets belonging to former dictators. Yet, after 40 years, Bern has still not found a use for $16 million (CHF13.2 million) linked to the late Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier. This is despite Swiss aid organisations having offered their support as early as 2019. Select your language

Generated with artificial intelligence. Listening: Forty years on, Switzerland still sits on Haiti's Duvalier millions This content was published on October 28, 2026 - 09:00 9 minutes Balz Bruppacher

Deutsch de Seit 40 Jahren sitzt die Schweiz auf den Geldern des Duvalier-Clans Original Read more: Seit 40 Jahren sitzt die Schweiz auf den Geldern des Duvalier- Français fr Haïti: La Suisse détient les fonds du clan Duvalier depuis 40 ans Read more: Haïti: La Suisse détient les fonds du clan Duvalier depuis 4 Español es Haití: Suiza retiene los fondos del clan Duvalier desde hace 40 años Read more: Haití: Suiza retiene los fondos del clan Duvalier desde hace 40 Português pt Suíça retém há 40 anos dinheiro ligado a ditador haitiano Read more: Suíça retém há 40 anos dinheiro ligado a ditador hai العربية ar لماذا يسهل تجميد الأصول المنهوبة ويصعب استردادها Read more: لماذا يسهل تجميد الأصول المنهوبة ويصعب استر 中文 zh 瑞士“冻结”海地独裁者家族资金40年,至今仍未找到用途 Read more: 瑞士“冻结”海地独裁者家族资金40年,至今仍

Within 18 days in February 1986, the dictatorships in Haiti and the Philippines came to an end. Jean-Claude Duvalier, known as“Baby Doc”, fled from Port-au-Prince to France on February 7. Ferdinand Marcos fled from Manila to the US on February 25. A month later, the Federal Council, Switzerland's executive body, froze Marcos's assets held in Switzerland under emergency legislation, marking a turning point in Switzerland's handling of funds illicitly held by despots.

The Duvalier case was less spectacular in that the asset freeze in mid-April was imposed following the announcement of a Haitian request for mutual legal assistance. What initially appeared to be a routine procedure, however, was to develop into the longest and most complicated case to date of so-called“asset recovery” – the restitution of illegally acquired funds.

In Haiti, criminal proceedings against Duvalier never materialised. The Caribbean state was weakened following the end of the dictatorship and experienced several attempted coups. When, in 2002, it became apparent that mutual legal assistance would fail – and that the Duvalier funds would consequently be released – the Federal Council resorted to emergency legislation after all and ordered a three-year freeze on the funds, which were then estimated at around CHF7.5 million ($4.83 million). The government explained at the time that the aim was to prevent the Swiss financial centre from being misused as a haven for assets derived from dishonest activities.

After the freeze had been extended twice, and with the help of a lawyer funded by Switzerland, Haiti resumed the mutual legal assistance proceedings in May 2008. As the Duvalier family's account holders were unable to prove the lawful origin of the frozen funds, the Swiss authorities decided in February 2009 to return the funds to Haiti to support development projects.

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