II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 396 

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. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 13, 2023 

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. KAINE, Mr. CRUZ, and Mr. 

BOOKER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

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. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Haiti Criminal Collu5 sion Transparency Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) According to a United Nations estimate, ap2 proximately 167 criminal gangs operated in Haiti in 

3 October 2021, exerting territorial control over as 

4 much as two-thirds of the country. 

5 (2) Haitian armed criminal gangs, the most 

6 prominent of which are the G9 Family and Allies 

7 and 400 Mawozo gangs, conduct violent crimes, in8 cluding murder, rape, arms and drug trafficking, 

9 racketeering, kidnapping, and blockades of fuel and 

10 aid deliveries. These crimes have perpetuated the on11 going security and humanitarian crises in Haiti, 

12 which have worsened since the assassination of 

13 President Jovenel Moı ̈se on July 7, 2021. 

14 (3) The United Nations Office of the High 

15 Commissioner for Human Rights and the Human 

16 Rights Service jointly found a 333 percent increase 

17 in human rights violations and abuses against the 

18 rights to life and security in Haiti between July 

19 2018 and December 2019. 

20 (4) At least 19,000 Haitians were forcibly dis21 placed during 2021 due to rising criminal violence. 

22 (5) At least 803 kidnappings were reported in 

23 Haiti during the first 10 months of 2021, including 

24 the kidnapping of more than 16 United States citiVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Feb 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S396.IS S396

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1 zens, giving Haiti having the highest per capita kid2 napping rate of any country in the world. 

3 (6) There is significant evidence of collusion be4 tween criminal gangs and economic and political 

5 elites in Haiti, including members of the Haitian 

6 National Police, which has resulted in widespread 

7 impunity and directly contributed to Haiti’s current 

8 security crisis. 

9 (7) On December 10, 2020, the Office of For10 eign Assets Control of the Department of the Treas11 ury designated former Haitian National Police offi12 cer Jimmy Che ́rizier, former Director General of the 

13 Ministry of the Interior Fednel Monchery, and 

14 former Departmental Delegate Joseph Pierre Rich15 ard Duplan under the Global Magnitsky Human 

16 Rights Accountability Act (subtitle F of title XII of 

17 Public Law 114–328; 22 U.S.C. 2656 note) for their 

18 connections to armed criminal gangs, including orga19 nizing the November 2018 La Saline massacre. 

20 SEC. 3. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

21 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

22 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT23 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com24 mittees’’ means— 


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1 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

2 the Senate; 

3 (B) the Select Committee on Intelligence 

4 of the Senate; 

5 (C) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

6 the House of Representatives; and 

7 (D) the Permanent Select Committee on 

8 Intelligence of the House of Representatives. 

9 (2) ECONOMIC ELITES.—The term ‘‘economic 

10 elites’’ means board members, officers, and execu11 tives of groups, committees, corporations, or other 

12 entities that exert substantial influence or control 

13 over Haiti’s economy, infrastructure, or particular 

14 industries. 

15 (3) INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY.—The term 

16 ‘‘intelligence community’’ has the meaning given 

17 such term in section 3(4) of the National Security 

18 Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003(4)). 

19 (4) POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC ELITES.—The 

20 term ‘‘political and economic elites’’ means political 

21 elites and economic elites. 

22 (5) POLITICAL ELITES.—The term ‘‘political 

23 elites’’ means current and former government offi24 cials and their high-level staff, political party lead25 ers, and political committee leaders. 


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1 (b) REPORT REQUIRED.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

3 the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually 

4 thereafter for the following 5 years, the Secretary of 

5 State, in coordination with the intelligence commu6 nity, shall submit a report to the appropriate con7 gressional committees regarding the ties between 

8 criminal gangs and political and economic elites in 

9 Haiti. The report shall— 

10 (A) identify prominent criminal gangs in 

11 Haiti, describe their criminal activities, and 

12 identify their primary geographic areas of oper13 ations; 

14 (B) list Haitian political and economic 

15 elites who have links to criminal gangs; 

16 (C) describe in detail the relationship be17 tween the individuals listed pursuant to sub18 paragraph (B) and the criminal gangs identified 

19 pursuant to subparagraph (A); 

20 (D) list Haitian political and economic 

21 elites with links to criminal activities who are 

22 currently subjected to visa restrictions or sanc23 tions by the United States, its international 

24 partners, or the United Nations, including in25 formation regarding— 


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1 (i) the date on which each such Hai2 tian political or economic elite was des3 ignated for restrictions or sanctions; 

4 (ii) which countries have designated 

5 such Haitian political and economic elites 

6 for restrictions or sanctions; and 

7 (iii) for Haitian political and economic 

8 elites who were designated by the United 

9 States, the statutory basis for such des10 ignation; 

11 (E) describe in detail how Haitian political 

12 and economic elites use their relationships with 

13 criminal gangs to advance their political and 

14 economic interests and agenda; 

15 (F) include an assessment of how the na16 ture and extent of collusion between political 

17 and economic elites and criminal gangs threat18 ens the Haitian people and United States na19 tional interests and activities in the country, in20 cluding the provision of security assistance to 

21 the Haitian government; and 

22 (G) include an assessment of potential ac23 tions that the Government of the United States 

24 and the Government of Haiti could take to adVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Feb 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S396.IS S396

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1 dress the findings made pursuant to subpara2 graph (F). 

3 (2) FORM OF REPORT.—The report required 

4 under paragraph (1) shall be submitted in unclassi5 fied form, but may include a classified annex. 

6 (c) DESIGNATIONS OF POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC

7 ELITES.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, in 

9 coordination with other relevant Federal agencies 

10 and departments, shall identify persons identified 

11 pursuant to subparagraphs (A) and (B) of sub12 section (b)(1) who may be subjected to visa restric13 tions and sanctions under— 

14 (A) section 7031(c) of the Department of 

15 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Pro16 grams Appropriations Act, 2022 (division K of 

17 Public Law 117–103; 8 U.S.C. 1182 note); or 

18 (B) section 1263 of the Global Magnitsky 

19 Human Rights Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 

20 10102). 

21 (2) IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS.—Not later than 

22 30 days after the date on which the report is sub23 mitted pursuant to subsection (b), the President 

24 shall impose, on individuals identified pursuant to 

25 paragraph (1), to the extent applicable, the sancVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Feb 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S396.IS S396

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1 tions referred to in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of 

2 such paragraph. 

3 (3) WAIVER.—The President may waive the re4 quirements under paragraphs (1) and (2) with re5 spect to a foreign person if the President certifies 

6 and reports to the appropriate congressional com7 mittees before such waiver is to take effect that such 

8 waiver— 

9 (A) would serve a vital national interest of 

10 the United States; or 

11 (B) is necessary for the delivery of human12 itarian assistance or other assistance that sup13 ports basic human needs. 

14 (4) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The list of persons 

15 identified pursuant to subsection (b)(1)(B) shall be 

16 posted on a publicly accessible website of the De17 partment of State beginning on the date on which 

18 the report required under subsection (b)(1) is sub19 mitted to Congress. 

20 (d) SUNSET.—This section shall cease to have effect 

21 on the date that is 5 years after the date of the enactment 

22 of this Act. 

Æ 


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