The quick decision to charge Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier for corruption and embezzlement, crimes allegedly committed during his 1971-1986 regime, is a welcome sign of life from a government that has been astonishingly listless since the earthquake.
Haiti’s leadership already faces many challenges: reconstruction, a cholera outbreak, a debilitating political impasse, and an outbreak of sexual violence against women living in the camps. About the last thing it needs is the unexpected arrival of an ex-dictator on its rubble-strewn doorstep.


But that doesn’t make it any less important for authorities to demonstrate they are capable of holding Mr. Duvalier, who was deposed in a popular uprising, accountable for his crimes.
He is now an enfeebled man of 59 living in exile in France, who has lost much of his stolen millions and who apparently suffers from a spectacular lack of political judgment.
When he turned up unexpectedly in Port-au-Prince on Sunday, he claimed he was there only to show solidarity, and to participate in Haiti’s rebirth.
His timing couldn’t have been worse, with the country still struggling to rebuild, and to resolve the disputed results of the Nov. 28 elections.
Mr. Duvalier’s presence is a distraction for a country suffering from a continuing crisis. Yet it is also an opportunity.
By having armed police escort Mr. Duvalier from his luxury hotel to the office of the chief prosecutor, the government displayed an authority often lacking in Haiti. Charges of corruption, theft, misappropriation of funds and other alleged crimes were brought against him late on Tuesday; a judge will now decide whether a judicial case should proceed.
Now that Mr. Duvalier is in the hands of the judiciary, there must be a serious effort to convey to Haitians, and to the international community, that the broken country has the capacity to pursue justice, even as authorities weigh the cost and resources required for a full trial.
It is important not to replicate the cycle of impunity that has already crippled the country. And, to send a strong message to all past leaders contemplating a return, that they will be held to account for their cruelty and corruption.