The World - News from Sept. 20, 1989

Lt. Gen. Prosper Avril, the president of Haiti, has commuted the life sentence of Luc Desir, the former secret police chief who directed hundreds of torture sessions during the Duvalier regime, a state-run newspaper said, quoting an Information Ministry statement. Desir was among 13 people who were pardoned or whose sentences were commuted on the first anniversary of Avril’s rise to power. Desir’s sentence was reduced to 30 years in prison. He had been sentenced to life at hard labor after the fall of dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier in 1986. Human rights activist Jean-Claude Bajeux immediately denounced the move, saying: “The commutation is a gesture of conciliation toward the Duvalierists. The next step is a full pardon.”