I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1684 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 21, 2023 

Mr. MEEKS (for himself, Mr. MCCAUL, and Mrs. CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a 

period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

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’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress makes the following findings: 

3 (1) According to a United Nations estimate, ap4 proximately 167 criminal gangs operated in Haiti in 

5 October 2021, exerting territorial control over as 

6 much as two-thirds of the country. 

7 (2) Haitian armed criminal gangs, the most 

8 prominent of which are the G9 Family and Allies 

9 and 400 Mawozo gangs, conduct violent crimes, in10 cluding murder, rape, arms and drug trafficking, 

11 racketeering, kidnapping, and blockades of fuel and 

12 aid deliveries. These crimes have perpetuated the on13 going security and humanitarian crises in Haiti, 

14 which have worsened since the assassination of 

15 President Jovenel Moı ̈se on July 7, 2021. 

16 (3) The United Nations Office of the High 

17 Commissioner for Human Rights and the Human 

18 Rights Service jointly found a 333 percent increase 

19 in human rights violations and abuses against the 

20 rights to life and security in Haiti between July 

21 2018 and December 2019. 

22 (4) At least 19,000 Haitians were forcibly dis23 placed during 2021 due to rising criminal violence. 

24 (5) Armed gangs have used rape, and other 

25 forms of sexual violence to instill fear, punish, sub26 jugate, and inflict pain on local populations with the 


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1 goal of expanding their areas of influence in Port2 au-Prince. 

3 (6) At least 803 kidnappings were reported in 

4 Haiti during the first 10 months of 2021, including 

5 the kidnapping of more than 16 United States citi6 zens, giving Haiti having the highest per capita kid7 napping rate of any country in the world. 

8 (7) There is significant evidence of collusion be9 tween criminal gangs and economic and political 

10 elites in Haiti, including members of the Haitian 

11 National Police, which has resulted in widespread 

12 impunity and directly contributed to Haiti’s current 

13 security crisis. 

14 (8) On December 10, 2020, the Office of For15 eign Assets Control of the Department of the Treas16 ury designated former Haitian National Police offi17 cer Jimmy Che ́rizier, former Director General of the 

18 Ministry of the Interior Fednel Monchery, and 

19 former Departmental Delegate Joseph Pierre Rich20 ard Duplan under the Global Magnitsky Human 

21 Rights Accountability Act (subtitle F of title XII of 

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

23 connections to armed criminal gangs, including orga24 nizing the November 2018 La Saline massacre. 


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1 SEC. 3. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

2 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

3 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT4 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com5 mittees’’ means— 

6 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

7 the Senate; 

8 (B) the Select Committee on Intelligence 

9 of the Senate; 

10 (C) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

11 the House of Representatives; and 

12 (D) the Permanent Select Committee on 

13 Intelligence of the House of Representatives. 

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

15 elites’’ means board members, officers, and execu16 tives of groups, committees, corporations, or other 

17 entities that exert substantial influence or control 

18 over Haiti’s economy, infrastructure, or particular 

19 industries. 

20 (3) INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY.—The term 

21 ‘‘intelligence community’’ has the meaning given 

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

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

24 (4) POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC ELITES.—The 

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

26 elites and economic elites. 


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

2 elites’’ means current and former government offi3 cials and their high-level staff, political party lead4 ers, and political committee leaders. 

5 (b) REPORT REQUIRED.— 

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

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

8 thereafter for the following 5 years, the Secretary of 

9 State, in coordination with the intelligence commu10 nity, shall submit a report to the appropriate con11 gressional committees regarding the ties between 

12 criminal gangs and political and economic elites in 

13 Haiti. The report shall— 

14 (A) identify prominent criminal gangs in 

15 Haiti, describe their criminal activities includ16 ing coercive recruitment, and identify their pri17 mary geographic areas of operations; 

18 (B) list Haitian political and economic 

19 elites who have links to criminal gangs; 

20 (C) describe in detail the relationship be21 tween the individuals listed pursuant to sub22 paragraph (B) and the criminal gangs identified 

23 pursuant to subparagraph (A); 

24 (D) list Haitian political and economic 

25 elites with links to criminal activities who are 


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1 currently subjected to visa restrictions or sanc2 tions by the United States, its international 

3 partners, or the United Nations, including in4 formation regarding— 

5 (i) the date on which each such Hai6 tian political or economic elite was des7 ignated for restrictions or sanctions; 

8 (ii) which countries have designated 

9 such Haitian political and economic elites 

10 for restrictions or sanctions; and 

11 (iii) for Haitian political and economic 

12 elites who were designated by the United 

13 States, the statutory basis for such des14 ignation; 

15 (E) describe in detail how Haitian political 

16 and economic elites use their relationships with 

17 criminal gangs to advance their political and 

18 economic interests and agenda; 

19 (F) include an assessment of how the na20 ture and extent of collusion between political 

21 and economic elites and criminal gangs threat22 ens the Haitian people and United States na23 tional interests and activities in the country, in24 cluding the provision of security assistance to 

25 the Haitian government; and 


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1 (G) include an assessment of potential ac2 tions that the Government of the United States 

3 and the Government of Haiti could take to ad4 dress the findings made pursuant to subpara5 graph (F). 

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

7 under paragraph (1) shall be submitted in unclassi8 fied form, but may include a classified annex. 

9 (c) DESIGNATIONS OF POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC

10 ELITES.— 

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

12 coordination with other relevant Federal agencies 

13 and departments, shall identify persons identified 

14 pursuant to subparagraphs (A) and (B) of sub15 section (b)(1) who may be subjected to visa restric16 tions and sanctions under— 

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

18 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Pro19 grams Appropriations Act, 2022 (division K of 

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

21 (B) section 1263 of the Global Magnitsky 

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

23 10102). 

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

25 30 days after the date on which the report is subVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:34 Apr 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1684.IH H1684

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1 mitted pursuant to subsection (b), the President 

2 shall impose, on individuals identified pursuant to 

3 paragraph (1), to the extent applicable, the sanc4 tions referred to in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of 

5 such paragraph. 

6 (3) WAIVER.—The President may waive the re7 quirements under paragraphs (1) and (2) with re8 spect to a foreign person if the President certifies 

9 and reports to the appropriate congressional com10 mittees before such waiver is to take effect that such 

11 waiver— 

12 (A) would serve a vital national interest of 

13 the United States; or 

14 (B) is necessary for the delivery of human15 itarian assistance or other assistance that sup16 ports basic human needs. 

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

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

19 posted on a publicly accessible website of the De20 partment of State beginning on the date on which 

21 the report required under subsection (b)(1) is sub22 mitted to Congress. 


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

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

3 of this Act. 

Æ 


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