Haitian justice decided not to prosecute Haitian dictator ‘Baby Doc’ Duvalier for human rights crimes during his gruelling regime.

Western governments have an easy opportunity to grab a tyrant – no need for UN resolutions or military intervention – he is there for the taking. Instead they do nothing. For good reasons, one of them being that he was ‘our’ dictator.

While the free western nations are falling over each other in their indignation over human right violations in Syria, they neatly look the other way when a former dictator is walking free while UN troops look on and stay ‘neutral’.

No real surprise there. The horrific feudal monarchies of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain are not a problem either. One of them is even on the forefront of the fight to oust Dictator Assad. It takes a bastard to know one.

According to Haitian justice, there is insufficient evidence of human rights violations by the feared Tonton Macoute (‘little uncle hears you’), the militia that tortured and killed at the behest of François ‘Papa Doc’ Duvalier and his son Jean-Claude ‘Baby Doc’ Duvalier (from 1957 till 1986). ‘Papa Doc’ was the nickname Duvalier had chosen for himself as this butcher was a medical doctor before he came to power…

In doing so, the justice department completely ignores the massive evidence and testimonies collected by courageous human rights organisations. The Haitian justice system is not particularly renowned for its independence or competence.

Duvalier however will be prosecuted for corruption. His looting of the country was real enough. Most of the Duvalier’s’ fortune is blocked in Swiss bank accounts. The idea behind Duvalier’s return to Haiti is to get him convicted on minor charges, give him a (probably suspended) five years to free the billions of dollars still stashed away in Zurich and Geneva.

But this is not the worst part of the story. ‘Baby Doc’ still has a lot of embarrassing information up his sleeve. Embarrassing to France, Canada and the US, as they were the main backers and bankers of his regime.

That this man can so easily get away with murder (literally) makes one thing clear. Our political leaders are not interested in democracy, human rights and justice.

The so called free west is not going to do anything about Baby Doc Duvalier, just as it will not act against the medieval monarchies of Bahrain or Saudi Arabia.

If human rights were the issue, Baby Doc would be front page news, the top story in the news. He isn’t. He’s our guy. Not like that scoundrel Assad who is not our guy. The first is OK, the latter has to go. Now you know why.

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.