Baby Doc returns to crisis-torn Haiti facing calls for his prosecution

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said Duvalier should be held accountable for the torture and killing of civilians under his 15-year rule. Duvalier abruptly returned to Haiti on Sunday after being forced from power following a popular uprising in 1986.

His arrival came as Haiti is struggling with a political crisis, cholera epidemic and stalled earthquake reconstruction.

President Rene Preval said in 2007 that Duvalier would face justice if he returned.

His arrival at Haiti's airport was as mysterious as it was unexpected. He greeted a crowd of several hundred cheering supporters but did not say why he chose this tumultuous period to suddenly reappear from his exile in France, or what he intended to do while back in Haiti.

"I'm not here for politics," he said. "I'm here for the reconstruction of Haiti."

His long-time companion, Veronique Roy, told reporters at one point that he planned to stay three days but she gave no further details.

The 59-year-old Duvalier apparently faces no criminal charges from the period of his rule. He took power at age 19 as part of a father-and-son dynasty that presided over one of the darkest chapters in Haitian history.

Duvalier arrived in Haiti on an Air France jet and was hugged by supporters. He waved to a crowd of about 200 before heading to a hotel. His return comes as the country struggles to work through a dire political crisis following the problematic November 28 first-round presidential election.

Three candidates want to go onto a second round. The Organisation of American States sent in a team of experts to resolve the deadlock.

The country meanwhile is dealing with a cholera outbreak that has killed more than 3,500 people since October and more than a million people are living in crowded, squalid tent encampments after their homes were destroyed from the January 12, 2010, earthquake.