What This Bill Does
This bill requires the Secretary of State to write annual reports to Congress for five years about connections between criminal gangs in Haiti and Haiti's political and economic leaders. The bill also requires the President to impose financial and travel restrictions (called sanctions) on Haitian political and economic leaders who work with criminal gangs.
Who It Affects
Haitian political leaders and business executives with ties to criminal gangs. The intelligence community (multiple U.S. agencies that gather secret information). Six specific Congressional committees. The President of the United States.
Key Provisions
• The Secretary of State must submit the first report within 90 days of the law taking effect, then submit reports annually for the following five years, describing the main criminal gangs in Haiti, their criminal activities, and where they operate (Sec. 3(b)(1)(A)).
• The Secretary of State must list Haitian political and economic leaders who have connections to criminal gangs and explain in detail their relationships with those gangs (Sec. 3(b)(1)(B) and (C)).
• The report must describe how Haitian political and economic leaders use their gang relationships to advance their political and economic goals (Sec. 3(b)(1)(E)).
• The President must impose visa restrictions and financial sanctions on identified individuals within 30 days of the report being submitted to Congress (Sec. 3(c)(2)(A)).
• The list of identified leaders must be posted on a public website of the State Department (Sec. 3(c)(4)).
What Changes
If this law passes, the U.S. government will officially track and publicly identify Haitian leaders connected to criminal gangs. Those individuals will face travel bans and financial restrictions that prevent them from entering the United States and using U.S. financial systems. Congress will receive detailed information about gang-leader connections that was previously unavailable.
Important Definitions
Economic elites: Board members, officers and executives of groups, committees, corporations or other entities that control significant parts of Haiti's economy, infrastructure or specific industries (Sec. 3(a)(2)).
Political elites: Current and former government officials and their top staff, political party leaders and political committee leaders (Sec. 3(a)(5)).
Political and economic elites: Both political elites and economic elites combined (Sec. 3(a)(4)).
Effective Date
The reporting requirement begins within 90 days after the law is enacted (Sec. 3(b)(1)). The entire section expires five years after the law takes effect (Sec. 3(d)).
II
Calendar No. 180
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION H. R. 1684
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
JULY 26, 2023
Received; read twice and placed on the calendar
AN ACT
To require the Secretary of State to submit an annual report
to Congress regarding the ties between criminal gangs
and political and economic elites in Haiti and impose
sanctions on political and economic elites involved in
such criminal activities.
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 ‘‘Haiti Criminal Collu-
4
sion Transparency Act of 2023’’.
5
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
6
Congress makes the following findings:
7
(1) According to a United Nations estimate, ap-
8
proximately 167 criminal gangs operated in Haiti in
9
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HR 1684 PCS
October 2021, exerting territorial control over as
1
much as two-thirds of the country.
2
(2) Haitian armed criminal gangs, the most
3
prominent of which are the G9 Family and Allies
4
and 400 Mawozo gangs, conduct violent crimes, in-
5
cluding murder, rape, arms and drug trafficking,
6
racketeering, kidnapping, and blockades of fuel and
7
aid deliveries. These crimes have perpetuated the on-
8
going security and humanitarian crises in Haiti,
9
which have worsened since the assassination of
10
President Jovenel Moı¨se on July 7, 2021.
11
(3) The United Nations Office of the High
12
Commissioner for Human Rights and the Human
13
Rights Service jointly found a 333 percent increase
14
in human rights violations and abuses against the
15
rights to life and security in Haiti between July
16
2018 and December 2019.
17
(4) At least 19,000 Haitians were forcibly dis-
18
placed during 2021 due to rising criminal violence.
19
(5) Armed gangs have used rape, and other
20
forms of sexual violence to instill fear, punish, sub-
21
jugate, and inflict pain on local populations with the
22
goal of expanding their areas of influence in Port-
23
au-Prince.
24
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(6) At least 803 kidnappings were reported in
1
Haiti during the first 10 months of 2021, including
2
the kidnapping of more than 16 United States citi-
3
zens, giving Haiti having the highest per capita kid-
4
napping rate of any country in the world.
5
(7) There is significant evidence of collusion be-
6
tween criminal gangs and economic and political
7
elites in Haiti, including members of the Haitian
8
National Police, which has resulted in widespread
9
impunity and directly contributed to Haiti’s current
10
security crisis.
11
(8) On December 10, 2020, the Office of For-
12
eign Assets Control of the Department of the Treas-
13
ury designated former Haitian National Police offi-
14
cer Jimmy Che´rizier, former Director General of the
15
Ministry of the Interior Fednel Monchery, and
16
former Departmental Delegate Joseph Pierre Rich-
17
ard Duplan under the Global Magnitsky Human
18
Rights Accountability Act (subtitle F of title XII of
19
Public Law 114–328; 22 U.S.C. 2656 note) for their
20
connections to armed criminal gangs, including orga-
21
nizing the November 2018 La Saline massacre.
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SEC. 3. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.
23
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
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(1) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
1
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
2
mittees’’ means—
3
(A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of
4
the Senate;
5
(B) the Select Committee on Intelligence
6
of the Senate;
7
(C) the Committee on the Judiciary of the
8
Senate;
9
(D) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of
10
the House of Representatives;
11
(E) the Permanent Select Committee on
12
Intelligence of the House of Representatives;
13
and
14
(F) the Committee on the Judiciary of the
15
House of Representatives.
16
(2) ECONOMIC ELITES.—The term ‘‘economic
17
elites’’ means board members, officers, and execu-
18
tives of groups, committees, corporations, or other
19
entities that exert substantial influence or control
20
over Haiti’s economy, infrastructure, or particular
21
industries.
22
(3) INTELLIGENCE
COMMUNITY.—The term
23
‘‘intelligence community’’ has the meaning given
24
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such term in section 3(4) of the National Security
1
Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003(4)).
2
(4) POLITICAL
AND
ECONOMIC
ELITES.—The
3
term ‘‘political and economic elites’’ means political
4
elites and economic elites.
5
(5) POLITICAL
ELITES.—The term ‘‘political
6
elites’’ means current and former government offi-
7
cials and their high-level staff, political party lead-
8
ers, and political committee leaders.
9
(b) REPORT REQUIRED.—
10
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after
11
the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually
12
thereafter for the following 5 years, the Secretary of
13
State, in coordination with the intelligence commu-
14
nity, shall submit a report to the appropriate con-
15
gressional committees regarding the ties between
16
criminal gangs and political and economic elites in
17
Haiti. The report shall—
18
(A) identify prominent criminal gangs in
19
Haiti, describe their criminal activities includ-
20
ing coercive recruitment, and identify their pri-
21
mary geographic areas of operations;
22
(B) list Haitian political and economic
23
elites who have links to criminal gangs;
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(C) describe in detail the relationship be-
1
tween the individuals listed pursuant to sub-
2
paragraph (B) and the criminal gangs identified
3
pursuant to subparagraph (A);
4
(D) list Haitian political and economic
5
elites with links to criminal activities who are
6
currently subjected to visa restrictions or sanc-
7
tions by the United States, its international
8
partners, or the United Nations, including in-
9
formation regarding—
10
(i) the date on which each such Hai-
11
tian political or economic elite was des-
12
ignated for restrictions or sanctions;
13
(ii) which countries have designated
14
such Haitian political and economic elites
15
for restrictions or sanctions; and
16
(iii) for Haitian political and economic
17
elites who were designated by the United
18
States, the statutory basis for such des-
19
ignation;
20
(E) describe in detail how Haitian political
21
and economic elites use their relationships with
22
criminal gangs to advance their political and
23
economic interests and agenda;
24
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(F) include a list of each criminal organi-
1
zation assessed to be trafficking Haitians and
2
other individuals to the United States border;
3
(G) include an assessment of how the na-
4
ture and extent of collusion between political
5
and economic elites and criminal gangs threat-
6
ens the Haitian people and United States na-
7
tional interests and activities in the country, in-
8
cluding the provision of security assistance to
9
the Haitian government; and
10
(H) include an assessment of potential ac-
11
tions that the Government of the United States
12
and the Government of Haiti could take to ad-
13
dress the findings made pursuant to subpara-
14
graph (G).
15
(2) FORM
OF
REPORT.—The report required
16
under paragraph (1) shall be submitted in unclassi-
17
fied form, but may include a classified annex.
18
(c) DESIGNATIONS OF POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC
19
ELITES.—
20
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, in
21
coordination with other relevant Federal agencies
22
and departments, shall identify persons identified
23
pursuant to subparagraphs (A) and (B) of sub-
24
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section (b)(1) who may be subjected to visa restric-
1
tions and sanctions under—
2
(A) section 7031(c) of the Department of
3
State, Foreign Operations, and Related Pro-
4
grams Appropriations Act, 2022 (division K of
5
Public Law 117–103; 8 U.S.C. 1182 note); or
6
(B) section 1263 of the Global Magnitsky
7
Human Rights Accountability Act (22 U.S.C.
8
10102).
9
(2) IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS.—
10
(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days
11
after the date on which the report is submitted
12
pursuant to subsection (b), the President shall
13
impose, on individuals identified pursuant to
14
paragraph (1), to the extent applicable, the
15
sanctions referred to in subparagraphs (A) and
16
(B) of such paragraph.
17
(B) EXCEPTION
RELATING
TO
IMPORTA-
18
TION OF GOODS.—
19
(i) IN
GENERAL.—A requirement to
20
block and prohibit all transactions in all
21
property and interests in property pursu-
22
ant to the authority provided by this sec-
23
tion shall not include the authority or a re-
24
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quirement to impose sanctions on the im-
1
portation of goods.
2
(ii) GOOD DEFINED.—In this section,
3
the term ‘‘good’’ means any article, natural
4
or manmade substance, material, supply or
5
manufactured product, including inspection
6
and test equipment, and excluding tech-
7
nical data.
8
(3) WAIVER.—The President may waive the re-
9
quirements under paragraphs (1) and (2) with re-
10
spect to a foreign person if the President certifies
11
and reports to the appropriate congressional com-
12
mittees before such waiver is to take effect that such
13
waiver—
14
(A) would serve a vital national interest of
15
the United States; or
16
(B) is necessary for the delivery of human-
17
itarian assistance or other assistance that sup-
18
ports basic human needs.
19
(4) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The list of persons
20
identified pursuant to subsection (b)(1)(B) shall be
21
posted on a publicly accessible website of the De-
22
partment of State beginning on the date on which
23
the report required under subsection (b)(1) is sub-
24
mitted to Congress.
25
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(d) SUNSET.—This section shall cease to have effect
1
on the date that is 5 years after the date of the enactment
2
of this Act.
3
Passed the House of Representatives July 25, 2023.
Attest:
KEVIN F. MCCUMBER,
Clerk.
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Calendar No. 180
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1684
AN ACT
To require the Secretary of State to submit an an-
nual report to Congress regarding the ties be-
tween criminal gangs and political and economic
elites in Haiti and impose sanctions on political
and economic elites involved in such criminal ac-
tivities.
JULY 26, 2023
Received; read twice and placed on the calendar
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