Haiti Development, Accountability, and Institutional Transparency Initiative Act

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5586 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 30, 2020 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations AN ACT To measure the progress of recovery and efforts to address corruption, rule of law, and media freedoms in Haiti. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:51 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5586.RFS H5586 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 HR 5586 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Haiti Development, 2 Accountability, and Institutional Transparency Initiative 3 Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 5 Congress finds the following: 6 (1) On January 12, 2010, a massive earth- 7 quake struck near the Haitian capital city of Port- 8 au-Prince, leaving an estimated 220,000 people 9 dead, including 103 United States citizens, 101 10 United Nations personnel, and nearly 18 percent of 11 the nation’s civil service, as well as 300,000 injured, 12 115,000 homes destroyed, and 1,500,000 people dis- 13 placed. 14 (2) The Post Disaster Needs Assessment con- 15 ducted by the Government of Haiti, the United Na- 16 tions, the World Bank, the Inter-American Develop- 17 ment Bank, and others estimated that damage and 18 economic losses from the January 12, 2010, earth- 19 quake totaled $7,804,000,000. 20 (3) The international community, led by the 21 United States and the United Nations, mounted an 22 unprecedented humanitarian response to the earth- 23 quake in Haiti. Through 2018, more than $8 billion 24 has been disbursed by donors. Since the 2010 earth- 25 quake, the United States Government has disbursed 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:51 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5586.RFS H5586 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 HR 5586 RFS more than $4 billion in recovery and development 1 funding. 2 (4) On October 4, 2016, Hurricane Matthew 3 struck southwestern Haiti on the Tiburon Peninsula, 4 causing widespread damage and flooding and leaving 5 1.4 million people in need of immediate assistance. 6 Recovery efforts continue more than 3 years later. 7 (5) Prior to both the earthquake and hurricane, 8 Haiti registered among the lowest socioeconomic in- 9 dicators and had the second highest rate of income 10 disparity in the world—conditions that have further 11 complicated disaster recovery and resilience efforts. 12 (6) In June 2019 the World Food Program re- 13 ported that Haiti has one of the highest levels of 14 chronic food insecurity in the world, with more than 15 half of its total population chronically food insecure 16 and 22 percent of children chronically malnourished. 17 (7) In October 2010, an unprecedented out- 18 break of cholera in Haiti resulted in over 800,000 19 reported cases and over 9,000 deaths to date. The 20 Pan American Health Organization reported in 2018 21 that the cholera incidence rate in Haiti is 25.5 cases 22 per 100,000. 23 (8) With United States assistance, almost 24 14,000 jobs have been created since the 2010 earth- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:51 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5586.RFS H5586 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 HR 5586 RFS quake, largely in the apparel industry at the Caracol 1 Industrial Park (in partnership with the Inter-Amer- 2 ican Development Bank, the Haitian Government, 3 and the private sector) in northern Haiti. 4 (9) According to the Haitian National Human 5 Rights Defense Network, on November 13, 2018, at 6 least 59 people were shot and killed in the Port-au- 7 Prince neighborhood of La Saline. After months of 8 investigations, no one has been held responsible for 9 the La Saline massacre. 10 (10) Since 2018, tens of thousands of Haitians 11 have participated in popular demonstrations de- 12 manding accountability over government manage- 13 ment of Petrocaribe resources. In early 2019, the 14 Haitian superior court of auditors released a series 15 of reports implicating high-level government officials 16 in the misappropriation of funds. 17 (11) From August 2018 through February 18 2019, local human rights organizations reported that 19 64 Haitian citizens were killed in protests. 20 (12) According to the Committee to Protect 21 Journalists, five Haitian journalists were shot while 22 covering protests in 2019 and one was killed. On 23 September 23, 2019, Associated Press photo- 24 journalist Chery Dieu-Nalio was shot by Haitian 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:51 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5586.RFS H5586 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 HR 5586 RFS Senator Jean Marie Ralph Fe´thie`re when the Sen- 1 ator fired multiple shots near a crowd outside of 2 parliament. 3 (13) Economic growth in Haiti is projected to 4 drop below 1.5 percent this year. Inflation is esti- 5 mated to be 15 percent and the local currency has 6 depreciated by 30 percent in the past year. The Hai- 7 tian government and parliament have failed to pass 8 a budget for 2 years, preventing the International 9 Monetary Fund and other multilaterals from dis- 10 bursing millions in international assistance. 11 (14) Midterm elections set for October 2019 did 12 not take place, and since January 2020 President 13 Moise has ruled by decree. 14 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 15 It is the policy of the United States to support the 16 sustainable rebuilding and development of Haiti in a man- 17 ner that— 18 (1) recognizes Haitian independence, self-reli- 19 ance, sovereignty, democratic governance, and effi- 20 ciency; 21 (2) promotes Haitian-led efforts for reconstruc- 22 tion and development of Haiti; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:51 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5586.RFS H5586 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 HR 5586 RFS (3) strengthens the capacity of civil society and 1 supports private sector initiatives that foster eco- 2 nomic opportunities in Haiti; 3 (4) fosters collaboration between the Haitian di- 4 aspora in the United States and the Haitian Govern- 5 ment; 6 (5) combats impunity and prioritizes delivering 7 justice to victims of human rights abuses; 8 (6) ensures the protection of press freedoms 9 and promotion of a free and independent Haitian 10 press; 11 (7) promotes respect for freedom of assembly 12 and the rights of Haitians to peacefully demonstrate; 13 (8) demands increased transparency and ac- 14 countability among all branches of government and 15 supports anti-corruption and addresses human 16 rights concerns; 17 (9) prioritizes strengthening community resil- 18 ience to environmental and weather-related impacts; 19 and 20 (10) promotes democratic principles, including 21 free, fair, and timely elections in accordance with the 22 Haitian Constitution. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:51 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5586.RFS H5586 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 HR 5586 RFS SEC. 4. STRENGTHENING HUMAN RIGHTS AND ANTI-COR- 1 RUPTION EFFORTS IN HAITI AND HOLDING 2 PERPETRATORS OF LA SALINE MASSACRE 3 ACCOUNTABLE. 4 (a) SECRETARY OF STATE PRIORITIZATION.—The 5 Secretary of State shall prioritize the protection of human 6 rights and anti-corruption efforts in Haiti by— 7 (1) fostering strong relationships with inde- 8 pendent civil society groups focused on monitoring 9 corruption and human rights abuses and promoting 10 democracy in Haiti; 11 (2) supporting the efforts of the Haitian Gov- 12 ernment to identify human rights violators and cor- 13 rupt actors in Haiti, including public and private 14 sector actors, and hold them accountable for their 15 actions; and 16 (3) addressing concerns of impunity for alleged 17 orchestrators of the La Saline massacre. 18 (b) ASSESSMENT.— 19 (1) ELEMENTS.—Not later than 180 days after 20 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 21 of State, in consultation with nongovernmental orga- 22 nizations in Haiti and the United State, shall submit 23 to the appropriate congressional committees a de- 24 tailed assessment of the happenings on November 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:51 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5586.RFS H5586 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 HR 5586 RFS 13, 2018, in the Port-au-Prince neighborhood of La 1 Saline. The assessment shall include the following: 2 (A) An examination of any links between 3 the massacre in La Saline and mass protests 4 that occurred concurrently in the country. 5 (B) An analysis of the reports on the La 6 Saline massacre authored by the United Na- 7 tions, the European Union, and the Haitian 8 Government. 9 (C) A detailed description of all known ac- 10 tors implicated in the shooting. 11 (D) An overview of efforts taken by the 12 Haitian Government to bring the orchestrators 13 of the La Saline massacre to justice. 14 (E) An assessment of the ensuing treat- 15 ment and displacement of the La Saline shoot- 16 ing survivors. 17 (2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The assessment re- 18 quired under paragraph (1) shall be made publicly 19 available on the website of the Department of State. 20 SEC. 5. ACTIONS TO PROMOTE FREEDOM OF THE PRESS 21 AND ASSEMBLY IN HAITI. 22 The Secretary of State shall prioritize the promotion 23 of press and assembly freedoms, as well as the protection 24 of journalists, in Haiti by— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:51 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5586.RFS H5586 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 HR 5586 RFS (1) advocating for increased protections for the 1 press and the freedom to peacefully assemble in 2 Haiti; 3 (2) collaborating with government and non- 4 government officials to develop and implement legal 5 protections for journalists in Haiti; 6 (3) supporting efforts to strengthen trans- 7 parency and access to information in Haiti; 8 (4) ensuring that threats and attacks on jour- 9 nalists and protesters are fully investigated and per- 10 petrators are held accountable; 11 (5) developing increased protection measures 12 for peaceful protesters in accordance with Haitian 13 law; and 14 (6) financing efforts to strengthen capacity for 15 independent journalists and increase support for in- 16 vestigative journalism. 17 SEC. 6. ACTIONS TO SUPPORT POST-EARTHQUAKE AND 18 POST-HURRICANE RECOVERY AND DEVELOP- 19 MENT IN HAITI. 20 The Secretary of State, in coordination with the Ad- 21 ministrator of the United States Agency for International 22 Development, shall prioritize post-earthquake and post- 23 hurricane recovery and development efforts in Haiti by— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:51 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5586.RFS H5586 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 HR 5586 RFS (1) collaborating with the Haitian Government 1 on a detailed and transparent development plan that 2 includes clear objectives and benchmarks; 3 (2) building the capacity of local institutions 4 through post-earthquake and post-hurricane recovery 5 and development planning; 6 (3) assessing the impact of both the United 7 States’ and the international community’s recovery 8 and development efforts in Haiti over the past 10 9 years; 10 (4) supporting disaster resilience and recon- 11 struction efforts; and 12 (5) addressing the underlying causes of poverty 13 and inequality, including by providing health re- 14 sources, access to clean water, food, and shelter. 15 SEC. 7. REPORT. 16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 17 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, 18 in coordination with the Administrator of the United 19 States Agency for International Development, shall submit 20 to the appropriate congressional committees a report that 21 includes the following: 22 (1) A strategy for carrying out the initiatives 23 described in sections 4, 5, and 6, including estab- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:51 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5586.RFS H5586 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 HR 5586 RFS lished baselines, benchmarks, and indicators to 1 measure outcomes and impact. 2 (2) An assessment of corruption in Haiti, in- 3 cluding an analysis of corruption among the public 4 and private sectors, a list of government and non- 5 government officials known or alleged to have par- 6 taken in corruption or human rights violations, and 7 a list of United States entities, including financial 8 institutions, with financial ties to alleged corrupt ac- 9 tors in Haiti. 10 (3) An overview of efforts taken by the Haitian 11 Government to address public and private sector cor- 12 ruption. 13 (4) A description of United States Government 14 efforts to consult and engage with Haitian Govern- 15 ment officials and independent civil society groups 16 focused on monitoring corruption and human rights 17 abuses and promoting democracy in Haiti to address 18 the Petrocaribe scandal and other acts of corruption 19 within the Haitian Government. 20 (5) An assessment of the Haitian Government’s 21 efforts to support displaced survivors of urban and 22 gang violence. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:51 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5586.RFS H5586 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 HR 5586 RFS (6) A detailed description of all known attacks 1 on journalists in the past since the beginning of 2 ‘‘country lock’’ protests in July 2018. 3 (7) An assessment of the Haitian Government’s 4 response to civic protests that have taken place since 5 July 2018 and any allegations of human rights 6 abuses. 7 (8) An analysis of the Haitian Government’s ef- 8 forts to increase protection for journalists. 9 (9) A description of United States Government- 10 led efforts to promote press freedom in Haiti over 11 the last 3 years and an outline of any additional best 12 practices the United States Government can employ 13 to promote press freedom and the freedom of expres- 14 sion in Haiti. 15 (10) A plan, developed in collaboration with the 16 Haitian Government, to support development goals 17 that includes the following: 18 (A) Strengthening institutions at the na- 19 tional and local levels. 20 (B) Strengthening democratic governance 21 at the national and local levels. 22 (11) A description of best practices to ensure 23 efficient and transparent earthquake and hurricane 24 recovery and development efforts in Haiti. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:51 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5586.RFS H5586 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 HR 5586 RFS (12) An analysis of the effectiveness and sus- 1 tainability of Un [Text truncated for display. 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