Guatemala Rule of Law Accountability Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 716 To impose sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Account- ability Act to combat corruption, money laundering, and impunity in Guatemala, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 7, 2019 Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. KAINE, Mr. MURPHY, and Mr. MERKLEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To impose sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act to combat corruption, money laundering, and impunity in Guatemala, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Guatemala Rule of 4 Law Accountability Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S716.IS S716 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 716 IS (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 1 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 2 mittees’’ means— 3 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations 4 and the Committee on Appropriations of the 5 Senate; and 6 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 7 the Committee on Appropriations of the House 8 of Representatives. 9 (2) FOREIGN PERSON.—The term ‘‘foreign per- 10 son’’ means a person that is not a United States 11 person. 12 (3) KNOWINGLY.—The term ‘‘knowingly’’, with 13 respect to conduct, a circumstance, or a result, 14 means that a person has actual knowledge, or should 15 have known, of the conduct, the circumstance, or the 16 result. 17 (4) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 18 ‘‘United States person’’ means— 19 (A) a natural person who is a citizen or 20 resident of the United States or a national of 21 the United States (as defined in section 101(a) 22 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 23 U.S.C. 1101(a))); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S716.IS S716 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 716 IS (B) an entity that is organized under the 1 laws of the United States or any jurisdiction 2 within the United States. 3 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 4 Congress makes the following findings: 5 (1) The Department of State’s 2018 Inter- 6 national Narcotics Control Strategy Report stated 7 that, in Guatemala, ‘‘widespread corruption per- 8 meates public and private institutions and exacer- 9 bates the country’s security, governmental, and eco- 10 nomic challenges’’. 11 (2) The same report, discussing money laun- 12 dering in Guatemala, noted, ‘‘Drug trafficking is a 13 major source of illicit funds. Other sources include 14 corruption, extortion, human trafficking, commerce 15 of other illicit goods, and tax evasion. Money is 16 laundered primarily through real estate, ranching, 17 and the gaming industry. It is also laundered 18 through a series of small transactions below the U.S. 19 $10,000 reporting requirement, either in small 20 banks along the Guatemala-Mexico border, or by 21 travelers carrying cash to other countries.’’. 22 (3) On August 10, 2018, Guatemala’s Attorney 23 General filed a request before the Supreme Court of 24 Guatemala to remove the immunity of Guatemala’s 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S716.IS S716 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 716 IS President, Jimmy Morales, so that he could be 1 charged for the crime of illicit election financing, 2 based on investigations carried out jointly by the Of- 3 fice of the Attorney General and the International 4 Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (in this 5 Act referred to as ‘‘CICIG’’). 6 (4) In August 2018, the Guatemalan Supreme 7 Court ruled that there was sufficient evidence for 8 the Guatemalan Congress to decide if President Mo- 9 rales should be investigated for illicit election financ- 10 ing. 11 (5) On September 4, 2018, the Government of 12 Guatemala announced that it would no longer allow 13 the Commissioner of CICIG to enter the country. 14 (6) On January 7, 2019, the Government of 15 Guatemala announced that it was terminating the 16 agreement establishing CICIG effective immediately. 17 (7) The United Nations responded that the Sec- 18 retary-General ‘‘strongly rejects’’ that announce- 19 ment, stating, ‘‘[T]he mandate of the Commission is 20 set to end on 3 September 2019. Until that date, we 21 expect the Government of Guatemala to entirely ful- 22 fill its legal obligations under the Agreement. The 23 Secretary-General expects the Government of Guate- 24 mala to abide by its international undertakings to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S716.IS S716 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 716 IS ensure the protection of the CICIG personnel, both 1 international and national.’’. 2 SEC. 4. GLOBAL MAGNITSKY SANCTIONS AGAINST FOREIGN 3 PERSONS THAT ENGAGE IN CORRUPTION 4 AND OTHER ACTIVITIES IN GUATEMALA. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 6 date of the enactment of this Act, and as appropriate 7 thereafter, the President shall impose the sanctions de- 8 scribed in subsection (b) with respect to any foreign per- 9 son who is a current or former official of the Government 10 of Guatemala, or is acting on behalf of or in cooperation 11 with an official of that Government, if the President has 12 credible information that the foreign person has know- 13 ingly— 14 (1) committed or facilitated acts of significant 15 corruption, money laundering, narcotics trafficking, 16 or financing political campaigns with the proceeds of 17 narcotics trafficking; 18 (2) obstructed investigations or prosecutions of 19 such acts; 20 (3) used equipment transferred or licensed to 21 be transferred by the United States Government in 22 violation of an end-use agreement or otherwise for 23 purposes other than the purposes for which such 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S716.IS S716 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 716 IS equipment was transferred or licensed to be trans- 1 ferred; 2 (4) disobeyed rulings of the Guatemalan Con- 3 stitutional Court, including rulings related to the 4 conduct of elections; or 5 (5) impeded or interfered with the work of any 6 United States Government agency or any institution 7 receiving contributions from the United States Gov- 8 ernment, including CICIG. 9 (b) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.—The sanctions de- 10 scribed in this subsection are the sanctions described in 11 section 1263(b) of the Global Magnitsky Human Rights 12 Accountability Act (subtitle F of title XII of Public Law 13 114–328; 22 U.S.C. 2656 note). 14 (c) EXCEPTION FOR UNITED NATIONS HEAD- 15 QUARTERS AGREEMENT; ENFORCEMENT.—Subsections 16 (e) and (f) of section 1263 of the Global Magnitsky 17 Human Rights Accountability Act apply with respect to 18 the imposition of sanctions under this section to the same 19 extent as such subsections apply with respect to the impo- 20 sition of sanctions under such section 1263. 21 (d) REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than 22 15 days after imposing sanctions under subsection (a), the 23 President shall submit to the appropriate congressional 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S716.IS S716 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 716 IS committees a report regarding steps taken to implement 1 this section. 2 (e) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—The President shall 3 issue such regulations, licenses, and orders as are nec- 4 essary to carry out this section. 5 (f) TERMINATION.—This section shall terminate on 6 the date that is 2 years after the date of the enactment 7 of this Act. 8 SEC. 5. CONDITIONS ON THE TRANSFER OF EQUIPMENT TO 9 SECURITY FORCES OF GUATEMALA. 10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, in coordi- 11 nation with the Administrator of the United States Agen- 12 cy for International Development and the Secretary of De- 13 fense, as appropriate, shall include, in each contract, 14 grant, license, or other mechanism entered into on or after 15 the date that is 30 days after the date of the enactment 16 of this Act that provides for the transfer to, or the transfer 17 for use by, the military or national police of Guatemala 18 any United States equipment a provision that ensures that 19 the equipment may be recovered by the United States if 20 the equipment is used in violation of an end-use agreement 21 or otherwise for purposes other than the purposes for 22 which the equipment was transferred. 23 (b) DETERMINATION.—Not later than 90 days after 24 receiving a written request from the chairperson and rank- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S716.IS S716 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 716 IS ing member of any of the appropriate congressional com- 1 mittees with respect to whether equipment transferred or 2 licensed to be transferred to Guatemala by the United 3 States Government has been used in violation of an end- 4 use agreement or otherwise for purposes other than the 5 purposes for which the equipment was transferred, the 6 President shall— 7 (1) determine whether the equipment was so 8 used; and 9 (2) submit to the chairperson and ranking 10 member of that committee a report with respect to 11 that determination that includes— 12 (A) a statement of whether or not the 13 President has taken or intends to take remedial 14 action, including as provided for under the 15 Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et 16 seq.); and 17 (B)(i) if the President has taken or intends 18 to take remedial action, a description of that 19 action; or 20 (ii) if the President will not take remedial 21 action, a detailed justification for why not. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S716.IS S716 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS