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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Haiti Development, 

3 Accountability, and Institutional Transparency Initiative 

4 Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

6 Congress finds the following: 

7 (1) On January 12, 2010, a massive earth8 quake struck near the Haitian capital city of Port9 au-Prince, leaving an estimated 220,000 people 

10 dead, including 103 United States citizens, 101 

11 United Nations personnel, and nearly 18 percent of 

12 the nation’s civil service, as well as 300,000 injured, 

13 115,000 homes destroyed, and 1,500,000 people dis14 placed. 

15 (2) The Post Disaster Needs Assessment con16 ducted by the Government of Haiti, the United Na17 tions, the World Bank, the Inter-American Develop18 ment Bank, and others estimated that damage and 

19 economic losses from the January 12, 2010, earth20 quake totaled $7,804,000,000. 

21 (3) The international community, led by the 

22 United States and the United Nations, mounted an 

23 unprecedented humanitarian response to the earth24 quake in Haiti. Through 2018, more than $8 billion 

25 has been disbursed by donors. Since the 2010 earth26 quake, the United States Government has disbursed 


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1 more than $4 billion in recovery and development 

2 funding. 

3 (4) On October 4, 2016, Hurricane Matthew 

4 struck southwestern Haiti on the Tiburon Peninsula, 

5 causing widespread damage and flooding and leaving 

6 1.4 million people in need of immediate assistance. 

7 Recovery efforts continue more than 3 years later. 

8 (5) Prior to both the earthquake and hurricane, 

9 Haiti registered among the lowest socioeconomic in10 dicators and had the second highest rate of income 

11 disparity in the world—conditions that have further 

12 complicated disaster recovery and resilience efforts. 

13 (6) In June 2019 the World Food Program re14 ported that Haiti has one of the highest levels of 

15 chronic food insecurity in the world, with more than 

16 half of its total population chronically food insecure 

17 and 22 percent of children chronically malnourished. 

18 (7) In October 2010, an unprecedented out19 break of cholera in Haiti resulted in over 800,000 

20 reported cases and over 9,000 deaths to date. The 

21 Pan American Health Organization reported in 2018 

22 that the cholera incidence rate in Haiti is 25.5 cases 

23 per 100,000. 

24 (8) With United States assistance, almost 

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1 quake, largely in the apparel industry at the Caracol 

2 Industrial Park (in partnership with the Inter-Amer3 ican Development Bank, the Haitian Government, 

4 and the private sector) in northern Haiti. 

5 (9) According to the Haitian National Human 

6 Rights Defense Network, on November 13, 2018, at 

7 least 59 people were shot and killed in the Port-au8 Prince neighborhood of La Saline. After months of 

9 investigations, no one has been held responsible for 

10 the La Saline massacre. 

11 (10) Since 2018, tens of thousands of Haitians 

12 have participated in popular demonstrations de13 manding accountability over government manage14 ment of Petrocaribe resources. In early 2019, the 

15 Haitian superior court of auditors released a series 

16 of reports implicating high-level government officials 

17 in the misappropriation of funds. 

18 (11) From August 2018 through February 

19 2019, local human rights organizations reported that 

20 64 Haitian citizens were killed in protests. 

21 (12) According to the Committee to Protect 

22 Journalists, five Haitian journalists were shot while 

23 covering protests in 2019 and one was killed. On 

24 September 23, 2019, Associated Press photo25 journalist Chery Dieu-Nalio was shot by Haitian 


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1 Senator Jean Marie Ralph Fe ́thie`re when the Sen2 ator fired multiple shots near a crowd outside of 

3 parliament. 

4 (13) Economic growth in Haiti is projected to 

5 drop below 1.5 percent this year. Inflation is esti6 mated to be 15 percent and the local currency has 

7 depreciated by 30 percent in the past year. The Hai8 tian government and parliament have failed to pass 

9 a budget for 2 years, preventing the International 

10 Monetary Fund and other multilaterals from dis11 bursing millions in international assistance. 

12 (14) Midterm elections set for October 2019 did 

13 not take place, and since January 2020 President 

14 Moise has ruled by decree. 

15 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

16 It is the policy of the United States to support the 

17 sustainable rebuilding and development of Haiti in a man18 ner that— 

19 (1) recognizes Haitian independence, self-reli20 ance, sovereignty, democratic governance, and effi21 ciency; 

22 (2) promotes Haitian-led efforts for reconstruc23 tion and development of Haiti; 


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1 (3) strengthens the capacity of civil society and 

2 supports private sector initiatives that foster eco3 nomic opportunities in Haiti; 

4 (4) fosters collaboration between the Haitian di5 aspora in the United States and the Haitian Govern6 ment; 

7 (5) combats impunity and prioritizes delivering 

8 justice to victims of human rights abuses; 

9 (6) ensures the protection of press freedoms 

10 and promotion of a free and independent Haitian 

11 press; 

12 (7) promotes respect for freedom of assembly 

13 and the rights of Haitians to peacefully demonstrate; 

14 (8) demands increased transparency and ac15 countability among all branches of government and 

16 supports anti-corruption and addresses human 

17 rights concerns; 

18 (9) prioritizes strengthening community resil19 ience to environmental and weather-related impacts; 

20 and 

21 (10) promotes democratic principles, including 

22 free, fair, and timely elections in accordance with the 

23 Haitian Constitution. 


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1 SEC. 4. STRENGTHENING HUMAN RIGHTS AND ANTI-COR2 RUPTION EFFORTS IN HAITI AND HOLDING 

3 PERPETRATORS OF LA SALINE MASSACRE 

4 ACCOUNTABLE. 

5 (a) SECRETARY OF STATE PRIORITIZATION.—The 

6 Secretary of State shall prioritize the protection of human 

7 rights and anti-corruption efforts in Haiti by— 

8 (1) fostering strong relationships with inde9 pendent civil society groups focused on monitoring 

10 corruption and human rights abuses and promoting 

11 democracy in Haiti; 

12 (2) supporting the efforts of the Haitian Gov13 ernment to identify human rights violators and cor14 rupt actors in Haiti, including public and private 

15 sector actors, and hold them accountable for their 

16 actions; and 

17 (3) addressing concerns of impunity for alleged 

18 orchestrators of the La Saline massacre. 

19 (b) ASSESSMENT.— 

20 (1) ELEMENTS.—Not later than 180 days after 

21 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

22 of State, in consultation with nongovernmental orga23 nizations in Haiti and the United State, shall submit 

24 to the appropriate congressional committees a de25 tailed assessment of the happenings on November 


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1 13, 2018, in the Port-au-Prince neighborhood of La 

2 Saline. The assessment shall include the following: 

3 (A) An examination of any links between 

4 the massacre in La Saline and mass protests 

5 that occurred concurrently in the country. 

6 (B) An analysis of the reports on the La 

7 Saline massacre authored by the United Na8 tions, the European Union, and the Haitian 

9 Government. 

10 (C) A detailed description of all known ac11 tors implicated in the shooting. 

12 (D) An overview of efforts taken by the 

13 Haitian Government to bring the orchestrators 

14 of the La Saline massacre to justice. 

15 (E) An assessment of the ensuing treat16 ment and displacement of the La Saline shoot17 ing survivors. 

18 (2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The assessment re19 quired under paragraph (1) shall be made publicly 

20 available on the website of the Department of State. 

21 SEC. 5. ACTIONS TO PROMOTE FREEDOM OF THE PRESS 

22 AND ASSEMBLY IN HAITI. 

23 The Secretary of State shall prioritize the promotion 

24 of press and assembly freedoms, as well as the protection 

25 of journalists, in Haiti by— 


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1 (1) advocating for increased protections for the 

2 press and the freedom to peacefully assemble in 

3 Haiti; 

4 (2) collaborating with government and non5 government officials to develop and implement legal 

6 protections for journalists in Haiti; 

7 (3) supporting efforts to strengthen trans8 parency and access to information in Haiti; 

9 (4) ensuring that threats and attacks on jour10 nalists and protesters are fully investigated and per11 petrators are held accountable; 

12 (5) developing increased protection measures 

13 for peaceful protesters in accordance with Haitian 

14 law; and 

15 (6) financing efforts to strengthen capacity for 

16 independent journalists and increase support for in17 vestigative journalism. 

18 SEC. 6. ACTIONS TO SUPPORT POST-EARTHQUAKE AND 

19 POST-HURRICANE RECOVERY AND DEVELOP20 MENT IN HAITI. 

21 The Secretary of State, in coordination with the Ad22 ministrator of the United States Agency for International 

23 Development, shall prioritize post-earthquake and post24 hurricane recovery and development efforts in Haiti by— 


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1 (1) collaborating with the Haitian Government 

2 on a detailed and transparent development plan that 

3 includes clear objectives and benchmarks; 

4 (2) building the capacity of local institutions 

5 through post-earthquake and post-hurricane recovery 

6 and development planning; 

7 (3) assessing the impact of both the United 

8 States’ and the international community’s recovery 

9 and development efforts in Haiti over the past 10 

10 years; 

11 (4) supporting disaster resilience and recon12 struction efforts; and 

13 (5) addressing the underlying causes of poverty 

14 and inequality, including by providing health re15 sources, access to clean water, food, and shelter. 

16 SEC. 7. REPORT. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

18 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, 

19 in coordination with the Administrator of the United 

20 States Agency for International Development, shall submit 

21 to the appropriate congressional committees a report that 

22 includes the following: 

23 (1) A strategy for carrying out the initiatives 

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1 lished baselines, benchmarks, and indicators to 

2 measure outcomes and impact. 

3 (2) An assessment of corruption in Haiti, in4 cluding an analysis of corruption among the public 

5 and private sectors, a list of government and non6 government officials known or alleged to have par7 taken in corruption or human rights violations, and 

8 a list of United States entities, including financial 

9 institutions, with financial ties to alleged corrupt ac10 tors in Haiti. 

11 (3) An overview of efforts taken by the Haitian 

12 Government to address public and private sector cor13 ruption. 

14 (4) A description of United States Government 

15 efforts to consult and engage with Haitian Govern16 ment officials and independent civil society groups 

17 focused on monitoring corruption and human rights 

18 abuses and promoting democracy in Haiti to address 

19 the Petrocaribe scandal and other acts of corruption 

20 within the Haitian Government. 

21 (5) An assessment of the Haitian Government’s 

22 efforts to support displaced survivors of urban and 

23 gang violence. 


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1 (6) A detailed description of all known attacks 

2 on journalists in the past since the beginning of 

3 ‘‘country lock’’ protests in July 2018. 

4 (7) An assessment of the Haitian Government’s 

5 response to civic protests that have taken place since 

6 July 2018 and any allegations of human rights 

7 abuses. 

8 (8) An analysis of the Haitian Government’s ef9 forts to increase protection for journalists. 

10 (9) A description of United States Government11 led efforts to promote press freedom in Haiti over 

12 the last 3 years and an outline of any additional best 

13 practices the United States Government can employ 

14 to promote press freedom and the freedom of expres15 sion in Haiti. 

16 (10) A plan, developed in collaboration with the 

17 Haitian Government, to support development goals 

18 that includes the following: 

19 (A) Strengthening institutions at the na20 tional and local levels. 

21 (B) Strengthening democratic governance 

22 at the national and local levels. 

23 (11) A description of best practices to ensure 

24 efficient and transparent earthquake and hurricane 

25 recovery and development efforts in Haiti. 


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1 (12) An analysis of the effectiveness and sus2 tainability of United States-financed development 

3 projects, including the Caracol Industrial Park and 

4 supporting infrastructure. 

5 (13) A breakdown of local procurement by year 

6 and a description of efforts to increase local procure7 ment, including food aid. 

8 (14) The design of quantitative and qualitative 

9 indicators to assess progress and benchmarks for 

10 United States initiatives focused on natural disaster 

11 recovery, resilience, and sustainable development in 

12 Haiti. 

13 (15) A description of United States efforts 

14 taken to assist the Haitian people in their pursuits 

15 for free and fair democratic elections. 

16 (b) CONSULTATION.—In preparing the report re17 quired under paragraph (1), the Secretary of State and 

18 the USAID Administrator shall consult with nongovern19 mental organizations and civil society groups in Haiti and 

20 the United States, as well as the Government of Haiti 

21 where appropriate. 

22 (d) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The report required 

23 under paragraph (1) shall be made publicly available on 

24 the website of the Department of State. 


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1 SEC. 8. DEFINITION. 

2 In this Act the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com3 mittees’’ means— 

4 (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 

5 Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep6 resentatives; and 

7 (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 

8 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate. 

Passed the House of Representatives November 18, 

2020. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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