Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/291 of 12 January 2024 implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/2309 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Haiti
Date: 2024-01-12
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU restrictive measure, Haiti, economic sanctions, international sanctions, natural person








L_202400291EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
Series L













2024/291


15.1.2024







            COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2024/291
of 12 January 2024
         
implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/2309 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Haiti


THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,


Having regard to Council Regulation (EU) 2022/2309 of 25 November 2022 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Haiti (1), and in particular Article 16(1) thereof,


Having regard to the proposal from the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy,

Whereas:







(1)


On 25 November 2022, the Council adopted Regulation (EU) 2022/2309.












(2)


On 8 December 2023, the United Nations Security Council committee established pursuant to Resolution 2653 (2022) added four persons to the list of persons and entities subject to restrictive measures.












(3)


Regulation (EU) 2022/2309 should therefore be amended accordingly,





HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:



Article 1
Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2022/2309 is amended in accordance with the Annex to this Regulation.


Article 2
This Regulation shall enter into force on the date of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.




This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 12 January 2024.


For the Council


The President

H. LAHBIB
            





(1)  
            OJ L 307, 28.11.2022, p. 17.




ANNEX
In Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2022/2309, in the ‘List of natural and legal persons, entities and bodies referred to in Article 2, 3 and 9’, under ‘PERSONS’, the following entries are added:







‘2.



Johnson ANDRE (a.k.a. Izo). Listed pursuant to paragraph 15 of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2653 (2022) for the measures listed in paragraphs 3 and 6 of that Resolution, as further elaborated by paragraph 16(a), (e), (f) and (g) of that Resolution.

Function: leader of 5 Segond gang

DOB: 1997

POB: Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Nationality: Haitian

Date of UN designation: 8 December 2023
            

Gender: male

Additional information from the narrative summary of reasons for listing provided by the Sanctions Committee:

Johnson Andre (aka “Izo”) is the main leader of the 5 Segond gang and has played an increasingly influential role within G-Pep alliance (see UN document S/2023/674, para 54). Under Andre’s leadership, 5 Segond has been involved in various criminal activities that threaten the peace, security, and stability of Haiti, including, rape, burglary, despoliation, kidnapping, drug trafficking, trafficking of weapons, and obstructing the delivery of humanitarian assistance (see UN document S/2023/674, Annex 4). Andre is also wanted by the Haitian National Police (HNP) for crimes including murder, kidnapping for ransom, illegal possession of firearms, vehicle theft, and hijacking of goods (see UN document S/2023/674, Annex 11).
With expansionist ambitions and substantial resources acquired through illicit activities, Andre has extended 5 Segond’s influence over the past three years, spreading violence in other areas of Port-au-Prince (see UN document S/2023/674, para 54). Moreover, the gang has carried out attacks against public institutions, including the Court of First Instance, which was ransacked in 2022 and currently remains under the control of the 5 Segond (see UN document S/2023/674, para 29).
Andre has used the maritime route to provide support to his gang’s northern cells, as well as to the Canaan gang, and strategically operates from there, conducting kidnappings in the Delmas, Bon Repos and Lilavois areas, hijacking trucks and stealing goods. Between April 18 and June 23, 2023, four attacks resulting in the kidnapping of over 30 individuals were attributed to the 5 Segond gang (see UN document S/2023/674, para 64).
The gang’s activities have also severely disrupted the free movement of persons and vehicles along National Roads (NR) 1 and 2, as well as at sea, through acts of piracy. In October 2022, members of 5 Segond intensified the hijacking of freight trucks transporting containers of high value merchandise along NR1. Along NR2 in Martissant, 5 Segond carried out extortion operations (see UN document S/2023/674, para 79). This has restricted access to strategic points, stifled the local economy, and disrupted access to food and other critical goods, including humanitarian aid.
In November 2022, the 5 Segond gang took 38 hostages including 36 passengers and 2 drivers, who were in 2 minibuses at the station preparing to go to Miragoâne. In a video, Andre asserted that this kidnapping was in response to the death of one of his men.
The 5 Segond gang has exploited the fragile security environment to generate additional revenue through drug trafficking. Some sources indicated that drugs were shipped directly from South America to the Village de Dieu area, sometimes along with firearms. From Village-de-Dieu, Izo has the support of other gangs, such as Canaan, Gran Grif and Kokorat San Ras, to move drugs up to Port-de-Paix and out of the country (see UN document S/2023/674, para 121).
The Panel of Experts also identified rapes committed by the 5 Segond gang (see UN document S/2023/674, para 136).










3.



Renel DESTINA (a.k.a. Ti Lapli). Listed pursuant to paragraph 15 of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2653 (2022) for the measures listed in paragraphs 3 and 6 of that Resolution, as further elaborated by paragraph 16(a), (e), (f) and (g) of that Resolution.

Function: leader of Grand Ravine gang

DOB:
               11 June 1982
            

POB: Haiti

Nationality: Haitian

Date of UN designation: 8 December 2023
            

Gender: male

Additional information from the narrative summary of reasons for listing provided by the Sanctions Committee:

Renel Destina (aka “Ti Lapli”) is the leader of the Grand Ravine gang and Johnson Andre’s key ally. Grand Ravine, composed of 300 members and an ally of G-Pep coalition, has been involved in various actions that threaten peace, security, and stability in Haiti (see UN document S/2023/674, paragraph 65).
Under Destina’s leadership, Grand Ravine gang has committed serious crimes including murder, rape, armed robbery, destruction of property, kidnapping for ransom, theft of vehicles, hijacking of trucks and goods, and spoliation (see UN document S/2023/674, para. 136, Annex 4). Destina is also wanted by the Haitian National Police for crimes including murder, vehicle theft, truck hijacking, illegal arms possession, and kidnapping for ransom (see UN document S/2023/674, Annex 18).
Since late 2022, the gang has tried to expand its territorial control over the neighborhoods of Carrefour-Feuilles and Savanne Pistache, committing crimes against residents and continuous attacks against the Haitian National Police such as killings, robberies, rapes, looting and burning of residences, and attacks on police officers. Two police officers were killed on August 4 and 14, 2023. On August 14, 2023, Grand Ravine attacked and rendered the Haitian electricity substation non-operational in the area. On August 15, 2023, approximately 1 020 households, comprising 4 972 individuals, had fled from Carrefour-Feuilles and Savane Pistache (see UN document S/2023/674, paragraph 65). On May 24, 2023, gunmen from Grand Ravine attacked the Carrefour-Feuilles area, killing a schoolboy (see UN document S/2023/674, Annex 40).
According to a November 7, 2022 Department of Justice press release, Destina was indicted on charges related to the kidnapping a U.S. victim in February 2021. The victim was held for approximately 14 days, during which time the victim was threatened daily at gunpoint, while his family attempted to secure funds for release.
According to an October 22, 2020 Haitian Times article, Destina announced on a radio broadcast that he had kidnapped Wolf Hall, the president of Titi Loto & T-Sound Lottery organization on October 18, 2020.
In addition, Grand Ravine has established control along the National Road 2 (NR2) connecting Port-au-Prince to the South, to collect revenue from extortion, hijacking of trucks, contraband, and other illicit activities (see UN document S/2023/674, paragraph 79). This has restricted access to strategic infrastructure and stifled the local economy by disrupting access to food and other critical goods, including humanitarian aid.










4.



Wilson JOSEPH (a.k.a. Lanmo San Jou). Listed pursuant to paragraph 15 of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2653 (2022) for the measures listed in paragraphs 3 and 6 of that Resolution, as further elaborated by paragraph 16(a), (b), (d) and (e) of that Resolution.

Function: leader of 400 Mawozo gang

DOB:
               28 February 1993
            

POB: Haiti
Nationality: Haitian

Date of UN designation: 8 December 2023
            

Gender: male

Additional information from the narrative summary of reasons for listing provided by the Sanctions Committee:

Wilson Joseph (aka “Lanmo San Jou”), is the leader of the 400 Mawozo gang, which is an active gang in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area, notably in Croix-des-Bouquets commune, and an ally of the G-Pep coalition of gangs (see UN document S/2023/674, Section III(A)(2.3)).
Wilson Joseph is responsible – either directly or through orders to his gang members – for the commission of human rights abuses and crimes, including those involving attacks against defenseless individuals causing death and injury, disrupting or impeding humanitarian aid (e.g. medical services), rape (including rape of minors), the recruitment of children, robbery, looting, and destruction of public property such as prisons and police stations, kidnapping, and hijacking of trucks (see UN document S/2023/674, Annex 4). These attacks have resulted in large numbers of internal displacements. Joseph is also wanted by the Haitian National Police for crimes including murder, attempted murder, vehicle theft, and kidnapping (see UN document S/2023/674, Annex 20).
On July 24, 2022, a Croix-des-Bouquets Police Commissioner was killed and mutilated by members of 400 Mawozo gang (see UN document S/2023/674, Annex 6). In February 2023, the Higgins Brothers Surgicenter for Hope in Fonds Parisien, located in an area controlled by 400 Mawozo, reported multiple incidents of surgeons, doctors, and nurses being shot, robbed, and kidnapped while on their way to work in the past two years (see UN document S/2023/674, Annex 44). Joseph is also implicated in the high-profile kidnapping case that occurred in October 2021, when 17 foreign Christian missionaries and family members, including five minors, were abducted in Haiti (see UN document S/2023/674, Annex 32).
400 Mawozo gang is actively involved in trafficking arms and ammunition (see UN document S/2023/674, para. 104). Several members known to be responsible for arms and ammunition trafficking have been arrested by the Haiti National Police, including in Malpasse on April 26, 2022, and Nippes in the southwest of the country on May 14, 2022 (see UN document S/2023/674, Annex 32). In May 2022, three Haitian nationals and one United States citizen were charged with firearms trafficking in support of 400 Mawozo in Haiti (see UN document S/2023/674, Annex 32).










5.



Vitelhomme INNOCENT. Listed pursuant to paragraph 15 of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2653 (2022) for the measures listed in paragraphs 3 and 6 of that Resolution, as further elaborated by paragraph 16(a), (e) and (f) of that Resolution.

Function: leader of Kraze Barye gang

DOB:
               27 March 1986
            

POB: Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Nationality: Haitian

National identification no: Haiti 004-341-263-3

Address:
               64, Soisson, Tabarre 49, Port-au-Prince
            

Date of UN designation: 8 December 2023
            

Gender: male

Additional information from the narrative summary of reasons for listing provided by the Sanctions Committee:

Vitelhomme Innocent is the leader of the Kraze Barye gang, which has become one of the most powerful gangs in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area, with an increasing number of fighters and semi-automatic weapons (see UN document S/2023/674, para. 66). Innocent has been involved in activities that threaten the peace, security, and stability of Haiti.
Under Innocent’s leadership, the Krazye Barye gang has committed human rights abuses involving murder rape, recruitment of children, and kidnapping for ransom, as well as other crimes such as armed robbery, destruction of property, theft of vehicles, spoilation of land, and destruction of property (see UN document S/2023/674, para. 141, Annex 4). Innocent is also wanted by the Haitian National Police for crimes including murder, attempted murder, rape, armed robbery vehicle theft, and kidnapping (see UN document S/2023/674, Annex 19)
Kraze Barye has targeted the Haitian National Police on multiple occasions, resulting in the deaths of several police officers and damage to police stations. Moreover, the populations of Petion-Ville, Kenscoff, Tabarre, Croix-des-Bouquets, and Delmas communes have repeatedly suffered attacks by Innocent’s gang over the past three years, which have contributed to displacement of thousands of people. He has continued to commit abuses against the police and the population, including those involving the spoliation of land and property, killings, looting, stealing and kidnapping of influential individuals (see UN document S/2023/674, para 66).
In July 2023, the Kraze Barye gang continued to attack, kill, and rape residents of Fort-Jacques, Truitier and Dumornay. As of 10 August 2023, Kraze Barye’s attacks had resulted in the displacement of around 2 000 people, including 229 minors (see UN document S/2023/674, para. 151).
Innocent has conducted targeted kidnappings against prominent figures, such as the regional director of APN port of Cap-Haïtien, the director of a private television station on “Route des Freres”, the director of the “Radio Commerciale d’Haiti,” as well as a famous journalist and the former president of the Provisional Electoral Commission, among others (see UN document S/2023/674, Annex 22). Innocent was indicted on charges related to the October 2022 armed hostage taking, in Haiti, of two U.S. citizens, one of whom was killed during the event (Press release, United States Attorney’s Office, District of Columbia, October 24, 2023).’.








ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2024/291/oj
ISSN 1977-0677 (electronic edition)