I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2471 

To measure the progress of post-disaster recovery and efforts to address 

corruption, governance, rule of law, and media freedoms in Haiti. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 13, 2021 

Mr. JEFFRIES (for himself and Mr. WALTZ) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To measure the progress of post-disaster recovery and efforts 

to address corruption, governance, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 Accountability, and Institutional Transparency Initiative 

6 Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds the following: 

9 (1) On January 12, 2010, a massive earth10 quake struck near the Haitian capital city of PortVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2471.IH H2471

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1 au-Prince, leaving at least 220,000 people dead, in2 cluding 103 United States citizens, 101 United Na3 tions personnel, and nearly 18 percent of Haiti’s 

4 civil service, as well as 300,000 injured, 115,000 

5 homes destroyed, and 1,500,000 Haitians displaced. 

6 (2) The international community, led by the 

7 United States and the United Nations, mounted an 

8 unprecedented humanitarian response to the earth9 quake in Haiti. Through 2018, more than 

10 $8,000,000,000 has been disbursed by donors. Since 

11 the 2010 earthquake, the United States Government 

12 has disbursed more than $4,000,000,000 in recovery 

13 and development funding. 

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

15 struck southwestern Haiti on the Tiburon Peninsula, 

16 causing widespread damage and flooding and leaving 

17 1.4 million people in need of immediate assistance. 

18 Recovery efforts continue more than four years 

19 later. 

20 (4) Prior to both the 2010 earthquake and 

21 2016 hurricane, Haiti registered among the lowest 

22 in socioeconomic indicators and had the second high23 est rate of income disparity in the world—conditions 

24 that have further complicated disaster recovery and 

25 resilience efforts. As of November 2020, 4,400,000 


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1 people are in need of humanitarian assistance in 

2 Haiti. 

3 (5) With United States assistance, more than 

4 30,000 jobs have been created since the 2010 earth5 quake, largely in the apparel industry at the Caracol 

6 Industrial Park (in partnership with the Inter-Amer7 ican Development Bank, the Haitian Government, 

8 and the private sector) in northern Haiti. 

9 (6) Since 2018, tens of thousands of Haitians 

10 have participated in popular demonstrations de11 manding accountability over government manage12 ment of Petrocaribe resources. In early 2019, the 

13 Haitian superior court of auditors released a series 

14 of reports implicating high-level government officials 

15 in the misappropriation of funds. 

16 (7) The United Nations Human Rights Office 

17 of the High Commissioner and the Human Rights 

18 Service jointly found a 333 percent increase in 

19 human rights violations and abuses against the 

20 rights of life and security from July 2018 through 

21 December 2019. There were 131 violations in 2018 

22 and 567 violations in 2019, including the shooting of 

23 at least one journalist covering the protests. 

24 (8) Leading members of civil society have faced 

25 attacks, including Monferrier Dorval, a constituVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2471.IH H2471

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1 tional law expert and president of the Port-au2 Prince bar who was killed on August 28, 2020. 

3 (9) On November 13, 2018, according to the 

4 Haitian National Human Rights Defense Network, 

5 at least 71 people were shot and killed and 18 peo6 ple were raped in the Port-au-Prince neighborhood 

7 of La Saline. 

8 (10) On December 10, 2020, the Department of 

9 the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control des10 ignated former Haitian National Police officer 

11 Jimmy Cherizier, former Director General of the 

12 Ministry of the Interior Fednel Monchery, and 

13 former Departmental Delegate Joseph Pierre Rich14 ard Duplan pursuant to the Global Magnitsky Exec15 utive Order for being foreign persons responsible for 

16 or complicit in, or having directly or indirectly en17 gaged in, serious human rights abuse for their con18 nection to the La Saline massacre. 

19 (11) Following the La Saline massacre, similar 

20 attacks have occurred in Port-au-Prince neighbor21 hoods, including the November 2019 and August 

22 2020 attacks on Bel Air, in which 24 people were 

23 killed and hundreds of families were displaced. 

24 (12) Parliamentary elections scheduled for Oc25 tober 2019 did not take place, and since January 


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1 13, 2020, President Jovenel Moı ̈se has ruled by de2 cree. At least five decrees have been cited as increas3 ingly authoritarian by Haitian civic and political 

4 leaders and the international community, including 

5 the October 30, 2020, decision to constitute a five6 member group to draft a new constitution, the No7 vember 6, 2020, decision to reduce the control of 

8 anti-corruption entities like the Superior Court of 

9 Accounts and Administrative Litigation, the Novem10 ber 26, 2020, anti-terrorism decree that establishes 

11 sanctions applicable to Haitian police officers not 

12 stopping demonstrations, the November 26, 2020, 

13 creation of the National Intelligence Agency, and the 

14 February 11, 2021, appointment of three new judges 

15 to the Supreme Court of Haiti outside of constitu16 tional procedures. 

17 (13) Although there has been no parliament in 

18 place since January 2020, the Haitian Government 

19 approved a budget on September 30, 2020, but the 

20 delay prevented the International Monetary Fund 

21 and other multilaterals from disbursing millions in 

22 international assistance. 

23 (14) In September 2020, President Moı ̈se by24 passed the Supreme Court to appoint a Provisional 

25 Electoral Council (CEP) by executive decree. Several 


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1 civil society groups that traditionally participate in 

2 Haiti’s electoral councils criticized the decision and 

3 have declined to be represented in the CEP. 

4 (15) On February 7, 2021, President Moı ̈se al5 leged that a coup had been attempted against him 

6 leading to 23 subsequent arrests, including of Judge 

7 Yviquel Dabre ́sil of the Supreme Court of Haiti. The 

8 Department of State noted that ‘‘the situation re9 mains murky and we await the results of the police 

10 investigation’’. President Moı ̈se later forced the re11 tirement of three Supreme Court judges on Feb12 ruary 9, 2021, who were named as possible transi13 tional presidents by political opponents, and replaced 

14 them with individuals he unilaterally selected. 

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 efforts that are led by and sup23 port the people and Government of Haiti at all levels 

24 so that Haitians lead the course of reconstruction 

25 and development of Haiti; 


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1 (3) builds the long term capacity of the Govern2 ment of Haiti, civil society in Haiti, and the private 

3 sector to foster economic opportunities in Haiti; 

4 (4) fosters collaboration between the Haitian di5 aspora in the United States, including dual citizens 

6 of Haiti and the United States, with the Haitian 

7 Government and the business community in Haiti; 

8 (5) supports anticorruption efforts and address9 es human rights concerns; 

10 (6) respects and helps restore Haiti’s natural 

11 resources, as well as strengthens community-level re12 silience to environmental and weather-related im13 pacts; 

14 (7) promotes the holding of free, fair, and time15 ly elections in accordance with democratic principles 

16 and the Haitian Constitution; 

17 (8) provides timely and comprehensive reporting 

18 on Haiti and the United States Government’s goals 

19 and progress, as well as transparent post program 

20 evaluations and contracting data; and 

21 (9) promotes the participation of Haitian 

22 women and youth in governmental and nongovern23 mental institutions and in economic development and 

24 governance assistance programs funded by the 

25 United States. 


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1 SEC. 4. STRENGTHENING HUMAN RIGHTS AND 

2 ANTICORRUPTION EFFORTS IN HAITI AND 

3 HOLDING PERPETRATORS OF THE LA SALINE 

4 MASSACRE ACCOUNTABLE. 

5 (a) SECRETARY OF STATE PRIORITIZATION.—The 

6 Secretary of State shall prioritize the protection of human 

7 rights and anticorruption efforts in Haiti by the following 

8 methods: 

9 (1) Fostering strong relationships with inde10 pendent civil society groups focused on monitoring 

11 corruption and human rights abuses and promoting 

12 democracy in Haiti. 

13 (2) Supporting the efforts of the Haitian Gov14 ernment to identify persons involved in human rights 

15 violations and significant acts of corruption in Haiti, 

16 including public and private sector actors, and hold 

17 them accountable for their actions. 

18 (3) Addressing concerns of impunity for the al19 leged perpetrators, as well as the intellectual au20 thors, of the La Saline massacre. 

21 (4) Urging authorities to continue to investigate 

22 attacks in the La Saline and Bel Air neighborhoods 

23 in 2018 and 2019 that left dozens dead in order to 

24 bring the perpetrators to justice. 

25 (b) BRIEFING.— 


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

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

3 of State shall brief the appropriate congressional 

4 committees on the happenings on November 13, 

5 2018, in the Port-au-Prince neighborhood of La Sa6 line, and its aftermath. The briefing shall include— 

7 (A) an examination of any links between 

8 the massacre in La Saline and mass protests 

9 that occurred concurrently in the country; 

10 (B) an analysis of the reports on the La 

11 Saline massacre authored by the United Na12 tions, the European Union, and the Govern13 ment of Haiti; 

14 (C) a detailed description of all known per15 petrators, as well as the intellectual authors, of 

16 the shootings; 

17 (D) an overview of efforts taken by the 

18 Haitian Government to bring the perpetrators, 

19 as well as the intellectual authors, of the La Sa20 line massacre to justice and to prevent other 

21 similar attacks; and 

22 (E) an assessment of the ensuing treat23 ment and displacement of the survivors of the 

24 La Saline massacre. 


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1 (2) CONSULTATION.—In the briefing required 

2 under paragraph (1), the Secretary of State shall 

3 consult with nongovernmental organizations in Haiti 

4 and the United States. 

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

6 AND ASSEMBLY IN HAITI. 

7 The Secretary of State shall prioritize the promotion 

8 of freedom of the press and freedom of assembly, as well 

9 as the protection of journalists in Haiti by the following 

10 methods: 

11 (1) Advocating to Haitian authorities for in12 creased protection for journalists and the press and 

13 for the freedom to peacefully assemble or protest in 

14 Haiti. 

15 (2) Collaborating with government officials and 

16 representatives of civil society to increase legal pro17 tections for journalists in Haiti. 

18 (3) Supporting efforts to strengthen trans19 parency in Haiti’s public and private sectors, as well 

20 as access to information in Haiti. 

21 (4) Utilizing United States foreign assistance 

22 for programs to strengthen capacity for independent 

23 journalists and increase support for investigative 

24 journalism. 


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1 SEC. 6. ACTIONS TO SUPPORT POST-EARTHQUAKE, POST2 HURRICANE AND POST-COVID–19 RECOVERY 

3 AND DEVELOPMENT IN HAITI. 

4 The Secretary of State, in coordination with the Ad5 ministrator of the United States Agency for International 

6 Development (USAID), shall prioritize post-earthquake 

7 and post-hurricane recovery and development efforts in 

8 Haiti by the following methods: 

9 (1) Collaborating with the Haitian Government 

10 on a detailed and transparent development plan that 

11 includes clear objectives and benchmarks. 

12 (2) Building the capacity of Haitian-led public, 

13 private, and nongovernmental sector institutions in 

14 Haiti through post-earthquake and post-hurricane 

15 recovery and development planning. 

16 (3) Assessing the impact of both the United 

17 States and the international community’s recovery 

18 and development efforts in Haiti since January 

19 2010. 

20 (4) Supporting disaster resilience and recon21 struction efforts. 

22 (5) Addressing the underlying causes of poverty 

23 and inequality. 

24 (6) Improving access to— 

25 (A) health resources; 

26 (B) public health technical assistance; and 


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1 (C) clean water, food, and shelter. 

2 (7) Assessing the impact of the COVID–19 

3 pandemic on post-disaster recovery efforts and eval4 uating United States support needed to help with 

5 the pandemic response in Haiti. 

6 SEC. 7. REPORT. 

7 (a) REPORT CONTENT.—Not later than 180 days 

8 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

9 of State, in coordination with the Administrator of the 

10 United States Agency for International Development, and 

11 other relevant agencies and departments, shall submit to 

12 the appropriate congressional committees a report that in13 cludes— 

14 (1) a strategy for carrying out the initiatives 

15 described in sections 4, 5, and 6, including estab16 lished baselines, benchmarks, and indicators to 

17 measure outcomes and impact; 

18 (2) an assessment of major corruption com19 mitted among the public and private sectors, and on 

20 all corruption prosecutions investigated by the Hai21 tian judiciary since January 2015; 

22 (3) an overview of efforts taken by the Haitian 

23 Government to address corruption, including the 

24 Petrocaribe scandal, and corrective measures to 


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1 strengthen and restore trust in Haiti’s public insti2 tutions; 

3 (4) a description of United States Government 

4 efforts to consult and engage with Haitian Govern5 ment officials and independent civil society groups 

6 focused on monitoring corruption and human rights 

7 abuses and promoting democracy and press freedom 

8 in Haiti since January 2015; 

9 (5) a description of the Haitian Government’s 

10 response to civic protests that have taken place since 

11 July 2018 and any allegations of human rights 

12 abuses, including attacks on journalists; 

13 (6) an assessment of United States security as14 sistance to Haiti, including the United States sup15 port to the Haitian National Police and an assess16 ment of compliance with section 620M of the For17 eign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2378d) and 

18 section 362 of title 10, United States Code (com19 monly referred to as the ‘‘Leahy Laws’’); 

20 (7) a description of the Haitian Government’s 

21 efforts to support displaced survivors of urban and 

22 gang violence; 

23 (8) an assessment of the impact of presidential 

24 decrees on the health of Haiti’s democratic institu25 tions and safeguarding of human rights, including 


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1 reducing the authority of the Superior Court of Ac2 counts and Administrative Litigation, promulgating 

3 an antiterrorism law, and establishing the National 

4 Intelligence Agency, as well as retiring and subse5 quently appointing judges to the Supreme Court of 

6 Haiti; 

7 (9) a review of the February 7, 2021, alleged 

8 coup against President Moı ̈se and subsequent arrest 

9 and jailings of alleged perpetrators; 

10 (10) an analysis in collaboration with the Hai11 tian Government on efforts to support development 

12 goals since January 2015, including steps taken 

13 to— 

14 (A) strengthen institutions at the national 

15 and local levels; and 

16 (B) strengthen democratic governance at 

17 the national and local levels; 

18 (11) an analysis of the effectiveness and sus19 tainability of United States-financed development 

20 projects, including the Caracol Industrial Park and 

21 supporting infrastructure; 

22 (12) a breakdown of procurement from Haitian 

23 small- and medium-sized businesses and nongovern24 mental organizations by the United States and Hai25 tian governments for development and humanitarian 


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1 activities by year since 2015, and a description of ef2 forts to increase local procurement, including food 

3 aid; 

4 (13) a description of United States efforts 

5 taken since January 2010 to assist the Haitian peo6 ple in their pursuits for free, fair, and timely demo7 cratic elections; and 

8 (14) quantitative and qualitative indicators to 

9 assess progress and benchmarks for United States 

10 initiatives focused on sustainable development in 

11 Haiti, including democracy assistance, economic re12 vitalization, natural disaster recovery, pandemic re13 sponse, resilience, energy and infrastructure, health, 

14 and food security. 

15 (b) CONSULTATION.—In preparing the report re16 quired under subsection (a), the Secretary of State and 

17 the USAID Administrator shall consult with nongovern18 mental organizations and civil society groups in Haiti and 

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

20 where appropriate. 

21 (c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The report required 

22 under subsection (a) shall be made publicly available on 

23 the website of the Department of State. 


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1 SEC. 8. SUNSET. 

2 (a) REPEAL.—The Assessing Progress in Haiti Act 

3 (22 U.S.C. 2151n; Public Law 113–162) is repealed. 

4 (b) TERMINATION.—This Act shall terminate on De5 cember 31, 2025. 

6 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com8 mittees’’ means— 

9 (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 

10 Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep11 resentatives; and 

12 (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 

13 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate. 

Æ 


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