In January 2011, Jean-Claude Baby Doc Duvalier, a former dictator, returned unexpectedly to Haiti, where he was questioned by prosecutors who charged him with embezzlement and corruption before releasing him. He remained in Haiti while the courts sorted through all the pending corruption charges and human rights charges against him. Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the former president of Haiti, also returned. He returned home to Haiti from exile in South Africa. The return of both men coincided with a dispute over the result of the 2010 presidential election. Both Duvalier and Aristide claimed that they were interested in national reconciliation.

Duvalier would remain in Haiti for the rest of his life. On Feb. 28, 2013, he pleaded not guilty to the charges of corruption and human rights abuse. The following year, on Oct. 4, 2014, Duvalier died of a heart attack. He was 63 and living in at his home in Port-au-Prince at the time.