[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
[July 12, 1993]
[Pages 1068-1072]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Letter to Congressional Leaders on Economic Sanctions Against Haiti
July 12, 1993

Dear Mr. Speaker:  (Dear Mr. President:)
    1. In December 1990, the Haitian people elected Jean-Bertrand 
Aristide as their President in a free and fair election. The United 
States applauded this remarkable achievement and actively supported the 
new government. However, Haiti's progress toward democracy was thwarted 
in September 1991, when the Haitian military illegally and violently 
ousted President Aristide.
    2. The United States, on its own and with the Organization of 
American States (``OAS''), immediately imposed sanctions against the 
illegal regime. The United States has also actively supported the 
efforts of the OAS and the United

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Nations to restore democracy to Haiti and return President Aristide 
through negotiations between the Haitian parties. In March, Secretary of 
State Christopher named Ambassador Lawrence Pezzullo as our Special 
Envoy on Haiti. In addition the United States and the international 
community offered material assistance to facilitate the return to 
democracy, build constitutional structures, and foster economic well-
being.
    3. When the de facto regime rebuffed the international community's 
efforts, I ordered several measures to increase our pressure on it. On 
June 4, I barred the entry into the United States of individuals 
associated with the de facto regime who have been impeding a settlement. 
I also ordered that their assets under U.S. jurisdiction be frozen and 
that transactions with them be prohibited. With strong U.S. backing, the 
OAS voted to tighten its embargo. We took the lead in the successful 
effort to have the United Nations Security Council adopt mandatory oil, 
arms, and financial sanctions on Haiti on June 16; these came into 
effect June 23.
    4. On June 30, 1993, I issued Executive Order No. 12853, which 
broadens U.S. authority to block all property of and prohibit 
transactions involving Haitian nationals providing substantial financial 
or material contributions to, or doing substantial business with, the de 
facto regime in Haiti. The Executive order also prohibits the sale or 
supply from the United States of petroleum, petroleum products, arms, or 
related materiel of all types. The order also prohibits the carriage on 
U.S.-registered vessels of petroleum or petroleum products, or arms and 
related materiel, with entry into, or with the intent to enter, the 
territory or territorial waters of Haiti.
    Issuance of this Executive order demonstrates continued U.S. 
leadership of the international community's use of strong sanctions to 
reinforce the negotiations process being sponsored by the United Nations 
and the OAS.
    5. This report details the measures we have instituted and enforced 
pursuant to the requirements of the International Emergency Economic 
Powers Act. I am committed to the restoration of democracy in Haiti, and 
I am confident that the measures we have taken will help achieve that 
outcome.
    6. On October 4, 1991, in Executive Order No. 12775, President Bush 
declared a national emergency to deal with the threat to the national 
security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States caused by 
events that had occurred in Haiti to disrupt the legitimate exercise of 
power by the democratically elected government of that country (56 Fed. 
Reg. 50641). In that order, the President ordered the immediate blocking 
of all property and interests in property of the Government of Haiti 
(including the Banque de la Republique d'Haiti) then or thereafter 
located in the United States or within the possession or control of a 
U.S. person, including its overseas branches. The Executive order also 
prohibited any direct or indirect payments or transfers to the de facto 
regime in Haiti of funds or other financial or investment assets or 
credits by any U.S. person or any entity organized under the laws of 
Haiti and owned or controlled by a U.S. person.
    Subsequently, on October 28, 1991, the President issued Executive 
Order No. 12779, adding trade sanctions against Haiti to the sanctions 
imposed on October 4 (56 Fed. Reg. 55975). This order prohibited 
exportation from the United States of goods, technology, and services, 
and importation into the United States of Haitian-origin goods and 
services, after November 5, 1991, with certain limited exceptions. The 
order exempts trade in publications and other informational materials 
from the import, export, and payment prohibitions and permits the 
exportation to Haiti of donations to relieve human suffering as well as 
commercial sales of five food commodities: rice, beans, sugar, wheat 
flour, and cooking oil. In order to permit the return to the United 
States of goods being prepared for U.S. customers by Haiti's substantial 
``assembly sector,'' the order also permitted, through December 5, 1991, 
the importation into the United States of goods assembled or processed 
in Haiti that contained parts or materials previously exported to Haiti 
from the United States. On February 5, 1992, it was announced that 
specific licenses could be applied for on a case-by-case basis by U.S. 
persons wishing to resume a pre-embargo import/export relationship with 
the assembly sector in Haiti.
    7. The declaration of the national emergency on October 4, 1991, was 
made pursuant to the authority vested in the President by the 
Constitution and laws of the United States, including the International 
Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (``IEEPA''), the 
National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), and section 301 of 
title 3 of the United States Code. The emergency declaration was re-


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ported to the Congress on October 4, 1991, pursuant to section 204(b) of 
IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 1703(b)). The additional sanctions set forth in the 
Executive order of October 28, 1991, were imposed pursuant to the 
authority vested in the President by the Constitution and laws of the 
United States, including the statutes cited above, and represent the 
response by the United States to Resolution MRE/RES. 2/91, adopted by 
the Ad Hoc Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the OAS on October 
8, 1991, which called on Member States to impose a trade embargo on 
Haiti and to freeze Government of Haiti assets. The current report is 
submitted pursuant to 50 U.S.C. 1641(c) and 1703(c), and discusses 
Administration actions and expenses since the last report that are 
directly related to the national emergency with respect to Haiti 
declared in Executive Order No. 12775, as implemented pursuant to that 
order and Executive Order No. 12779.
    8. On March 31, 1992, the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the 
Department of the Treasury (``FAC''), after consultation with the 
Department of State and other Federal agencies, issued the Haitian 
Transactions Regulations (``HTR'') (31 C.F.R. Part 580 Fed. Reg. 10820, 
March 31, 1992), to implement the prohibitions set forth in Executive 
Orders No. 12775 and No. 12779. Since the last report, there has been 
one amendment to the HTR and one policy statement issued concerning the 
HTR.
    On January 13, 1993, FAC, in consultation with the Department of 
State and other Federal agencies, amended section 580.510 of the HTR (58 
Fed. Reg. 4080) to provide general authorization for the commercial 
exportation from the United States to Haiti of medicine and medical 
supplies. New section 580.517 of the HTR also provides for specific 
licensing on a case-by-case basis authorizing the exportation of (1) 
personal hygiene items and ingredients used in the manufacture of 
medicines; (2) paper and school supplies; and (3) generators and 
generator parts intended for use in humanitarian projects. A copy of the 
amendment is attached to this report.
    Early in the embargo an exception to the export ban had been made 
with respect to medicines and medical supplies. Prior to the recent 
amendment, such exportations could be authorized only by specific 
licenses issued on a case-by-case basis. The general license provided by 
the amendment applies only to finished medicines and medical supplies. 
The exportation to Haiti of components and materials used in the 
manufacture of medicines and medical supplies, and personal hygiene 
items, requires specific licensing on a case-by-case basis.
    Although significant quantities of school supplies have been donated 
to Haiti by various U.S. organizations since the inception of the 
embargo, supplies of many basic items have remained chronically low. 
Applications for specific export licenses are carefully screened to 
ensure that goods intended primarily for entertainment and other non-
educational uses are denied authorization. Qualifying shipments of paper 
are limited to paper that will be used as writing paper, notebooks, 
tablets, and texts.
    In order to operate medical apparatus, refrigeration units, and 
communications devices, hospitals, schools, and various charitable and 
religious organizations require alternative energy sources to augment 
the often intermittent supply available from the government-run utility. 
To meet this need, specific licenses are issued for generators and 
generator parts and only where the humanitarian application of the 
equipment is definitively established.
    9. On January 8, 1993, FAC published a policy statement extending 
all then-current licenses issued under section 580.515 of the HTR (58 
Fed. Reg. 3228). Those licenses, which authorize transactions in 
connection with both the exportation to Haiti of articles containing 
specified parts or materials, and the importation into the United States 
of specified articles assembled in Haiti containing materials or parts 
exported from the United States, were extended to January 31, 1994. The 
policy statement also clarified reporting requirements pursuant to these 
licenses. A copy of the policy statement is attached to this report.
    10. In implementing the Haitian sanctions program, FAC has made 
extensive use of its authority to specifically license transactions with 
respect to Haiti in an effort to mitigate the effects of the sanctions 
on the legitimate Government of Haiti and on the livelihood on Haitian 
workers employed by Haiti's export assembly sector having established 
relationships with U.S. firms, and to ensure the availability of 
necessary medicines and medical supplies and the undisrupted flow of 
humanitarian donations to Haiti's poor. For example, specific licenses 
have been issued (1) permitting expenditures from blocked assets for the 
operations of the legiti-


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mate Government of Haiti; (2) permitting U.S. firms with pre-embargo 
relationships with product assembly operations in Haiti to resume those 
relationships in order to continue employment for their workers or, if 
they choose to withdraw from Haiti, to return to the United States 
assembly equipment, machinery, and parts and materials previously 
exported to Haiti; (3) permitting U.S. companies operating in Haiti to 
establish, under specified circumstances, interest-bearing blocked 
reserve accounts in commercial or investment banking institutions in the 
United States for deposit of amounts owed the de facto regime; (4) 
permitting the continued material support of U.S. and international 
religious, charitable, public health, and other humanitarian 
organizations and projects operating in Haiti; and (5) authorizing 
commercial sales of agricultural inputs such as fertilizer and foodcrop 
seeds.
    11. The widespread supply of embargoed goods, particularly petroleum 
products, to Haiti by foreign-flag vessels led to the adoption on May 
17, 1992, by the Ad Hoc Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the 
OAS of Resolution MRE/RES. 3/92 urging, among other things, a port ban 
on vessels engaged in trade with Haiti in violation of the OAS embargo. 
There was broad consensus among OAS member representatives, as well as 
European permanent observer missions, on the importance of preventing 
oil shipments to Haiti. Vessels from some non-OAS Caribbean ports and 
European countries have been involved in trade, particularly in oil 
supplies, that undermines the embargo. As previously reported, section 
580.211 was added to the HTR (57 Fed. Reg. 23954, June 5, 1992) 
prohibiting vessels calling in Haiti on or after the effective date from 
entering the United States without authorization by FAC.
    Strict enforcement of the vessel regulation issued to implement 
Resolution MRE/RES. 3/92 has benefitted from the close coordination 
between FAC, the U.S. Embassy at Port-au-Prince, the U.S. Customs 
Service, the U.S. Navy, and the U.S. Coast Guard in monitoring vessel 
traffic to and from Haiti.
    This coordination has resulted in the identification of some 60 
vessels involved in the shipment or transshipment of unauthorized goods 
to or from Haiti. Enforcement coordination with the U.S. Customs Service 
in Miami has led to increased inspection of all outbound vessels to 
Haiti, thus preventing as many as 20 unauthorized shipments. Three 
vessels, large quantities of motor oil, electronics equipment, and 
miscellaneous cargo have been seized.
    More than 60 cases, some involving ships flying foreign flags-of-
convenience of at least 9 countries, have been referred to FAC for 
investigation during the reporting period. These cases involve a variety 
of illegal trade transactions, including third-country transshipments. 
Among these is one criminal case involving the shipment of petroleum 
products. Enforcement efforts have identified a number of transshipment 
routes utilized by violators throughout the Caribbean. Numerous illegal 
shipments have been deterred as a result of heightened scrutiny of 
vessels bound for suspect destinations. One such route has been 
successfully terminated as a result of intensified activity and close 
coordination among enforcement agencies.
    Similarly, enforcement efforts have curtailed the previously 
widespread practice of mixing unauthorized goods with licensed or 
exempted merchandise. Many shipments, nearly all originating in Miami 
and fraudulently described as ``humanitarian goods,'' were found to be 
commercial in nature. The legitimacy of recipients of identified donated 
goods is now verified, and use of this ruse has been significantly 
reduced. This unified enforcement effort on the part of numerous Federal 
agencies has been a deterrent to would-be violators.
    To further strengthen the economic sanctions, on June 4, 1993, FAC 
issued General Notice No. 1, announcing the names of 35 entities and 83 
individuals who have been determined to be Specially Designated 
Nationals of the de facto regime in Haiti. The persons identified have 
been so designated for one or more of the following reasons: (1) they 
seized power illegally from the democratically elected government of 
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on September 30, 1991; (2) they are 
substantially owned or controlled by the de facto regime in Haiti; or 
(3) they have, since 12:23 e.d.t., October 4, 1991, acted or purported 
to act directly or indirectly on behalf of the de facto regime in Haiti 
or under the asserted authority thereof. This listing is not all-
inclusive and will be updated from time to time.
    U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions 
with these entities and individuals unless the transactions are 
authorized by FAC. Additionally, all assets within U.S. jurisdiction 
owned or controlled by these entities

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or individuals are blocked. U.S. persons are not prohibited, however, 
from paying funds owed to these entities or individuals into the blocked 
Government of Haiti account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, or, 
pursuant to specific licenses issued by FAC, into blocked accounts held 
in the names of the blocked parties in domestic U.S. financial 
institutions.
    12. Since the last report, two penalties have been collected from 
U.S. banks for violations involving unlicensed transfers from blocked 
Government of Haiti accounts or failure to block payments to the de 
facto regime, and a penalty of $40,000 has been assessed and paid by a 
corporate entity for other violations of the HTR. As of March 16, 1993, 
payments of penalties assessed against the masters of vessels for 
unauthorized trade transactions or violations of entry restrictions 
totalled about $48,000, bringing total collections for the period to 
nearly $93,000.
    As an enforcement initiative devised in response to the U.N. oil 
embargo against Haiti, FAC's civil penalties staff has developed an 
expedited procedure for the processing of administrative civil monetary 
penalties with respect to Haiti. The primary subject civil penalty 
actions under the Haitian Transactions Regulations will be vessels used 
in Haitian trade in violation of the embargo and the Regulations.
    13. The expenses incurred by the Federal Government in the 6-month 
period from October 4, 1992, through April 3, 1993, that are directly 
attributable to the authorities conferred by the declaration of a 
national emergency with respect to Haiti are estimated at about $2.1 
million, most of which represent wage and salary costs for Federal 
personnel. Personnel costs were largely centered in the Department of 
the Treasury (particularly in FAC, the U.S. Customs Service, and the 
Office of the General Counsel), the Department of State, the U.S. Coast 
Guard, and the Department of Commerce.
    14. The assault on Haiti's democracy represented by the military's 
forced exile of President Aristide continues to pose an unusual and 
extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and 
economy of the United States. The United States remains committed to a 
multilateral resolution of this crisis through its actions implementing 
the resolutions of the OAS with respect to Haiti. We are unequivocally 
committed to the early return of constitutional democracy and President 
Aristide to Haiti. The United States has launched an energetic 
diplomatic campaign to help accelerate the momentum of the ongoing 
United Nations/OAS negotiations to achieve peaceful restoration of 
democracy. The United States is prepared to consider additional tougher 
sanctions should the negotiations stall. These measures include, but are 
not limited to, targeted sanctions against particular intransigent 
groups, a further tightening and globalization of the trade embargo, and 
even more vigorous enforcement measures against violators. I shall 
continue to exercise the powers at my disposal to apply economic 
sanctions against Haiti as long as these measures are appropriate, and 
will continue to report periodically to the Congress on significant 
developments pursuant to 50 U.S.C. 1703(c).
    Sincerely,

                                                      William J. Clinton

Note: Identical letters were sent to Thomas S. Foley, Speaker of the 
House of Representatives, and Albert Gore, Jr., President of the Senate.