[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book II)]
[November 13, 1993]
[Pages 1991-1995]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Letter to Congressional Leaders on Haiti
November 13, 1993

Dear Mr. Speaker:  (Dear Mr. President:)
    1. In December 1990, the Haitian people elected Jean-Bertrand 
Aristide as their President by an overwhelming margin in a free and fair 
election. The United States praised Haiti's success in peacefully 
implementing its democratic constitutional system and provided 
significant political and economic support to the new government. The 
Haitian military abruptly interrupted the consolidation of Haiti's new 
democracy when in September 1991, it illegally and violently ousted 
President Aristide from office and drove him into exile.
    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 Nations to restore democracy to Haiti and bring about 
President Aristide's return by facilitating negotiations between the 
Haitian parties. The United States and the international community also 
offered material assistance within the context of an eventual negotiated 
settlement of the Haitian crisis to support the return to democracy, 
build constitutional structures, and foster economic well-being.
    3. My last report detailed asset freezes and entry prohibitions that 
I ordered be imposed against individuals associated with the illegal 
regime on June 4. That report also described the imposition of mandatory 
oil, arms, and financial sanctions by the United Nations Security 
Council on June 23 and the tightening of the OAS trade embargo in the 
same period.
    4. Since those events my Administration has intensively supported 
the negotiating process, using the international community's 
determination as expressed in the sanctions to bring about the 
restoration of democracy and return of President Aristide. Our efforts 
bore fruit in the July 3 Governors Island Agreement between President 
Aristide and Haitian military Commander in Chief General Cedras. That 
agreement establishes a comprehensive framework for achievement of our 
policy objectives in Haiti. Progress in implementing its provisions 
permitted the suspension of the United Nations,

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OAS, and our own targeted sanctions at the end of August.
    5. However, as the date for fulfillment of the final terms of the 
Governors Island Agreement including the return of President Aristide 
neared, violence in Haiti increased and, on October 11, the Haitian 
military and police failed to maintain order necessary for the 
deployment of U.S. and other forces participating in the United Nations 
Mission in Haiti. This Haitian military intransigence led to the 
reimposition of U.N. and OAS sanctions on October 18. That same day, I 
ordered the reimposition of our targeted asset freeze and entry 
prohibition, the scope and reach of which were at the same time 
significantly enhanced.
    6. This report details the measures we have instituted and enforced 
pursuant to the requirements of the International Emergency Economic 
Powers Act. Military refusal to honor obligations incurred in the 
Governors Island Agreement persists to this date. However, I remain 
committed to the restoration of democracy in Haiti and I am confident 
that the application of the measures described in this report will 
significantly buttress our efforts to achieve that outcome.
    7. As noted in my previous report, on June 30, 1993, I issued 
Executive Order No. 12853 to implement in the United States petroleum, 
arms, and financial sanctions mandated by United Nations Security 
Council Resolution No. 841 of June 16, 1993. The order broadened U.S. 
authority to block all property of the de facto regime in Haiti that is 
in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons, 
prohibiting transactions involving Haitian nationals providing 
substantial financial or material contributions to, or doing substantial 
business with, the de facto regime in Haiti. Executive Order No. 12853 
also prohibited the sale or supply from the United States of petroleum, 
petroleum products, arms, or related materiel of all types. Finally, the 
order also prohibited 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.
    Apparent steady progress toward achieving my firm goal of restoring 
democracy in Haiti permitted the United States and the world community 
to suspend economic sanctions against Haiti in August. With our strong 
support, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution No. 861 
on August 27, 1993, calling on Member States to suspend the petroleum, 
arms, and financial sanctions imposed under United Nations Security 
Council Resolution No. 841. Resolution No. 861 noted with approval the 
Governors Island Agreement signed in New York on July 3 between the 
President of the Republic of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and the 
Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of Haiti, Lieutenant General 
Raoul Cedras. Similarly, the Secretary General of the OAS announced on 
August 27 that the OAS was urging Member States to suspend their trade 
embargoes.
    As a result of these U.N. and OAS actions and the anticipated 
swearing-in of Prime Minister Robert Malval, the Department of the 
Treasury, in consultation with the Department of State, suspended U.S. 
trade and financial restrictions against Haiti, effective at 9:35 a.m. 
e.d.t. on August 31, 1993. The suspension permitted new trade 
transactions with Haiti and authorized new financial and other 
transactions involving property in which the Government of Haiti has an 
interest. Property of the Government of Haiti that was blocked before 
August 31 would be unblocked gradually and when requested by that 
government. However, property of blocked individuals of the de facto 
regime in Haiti was unblocked as of August 31, 1993.
    The Haitian military betrayed its commitments, first by the 
acceleration of violence in Haiti that it sponsored or tolerated, and 
then on October 11 when armed ``attaches,'' with military and police 
support, obstructed deployment to Haiti of U.S. military trainers and 
engineers as part of the United Nations Mission in Haiti. On October 13, 
1993, the U.N. Security Council issued Resolution No. 873 that 
terminated the suspension of sanctions, effective October 18, 1993. 
Therefore, we have taken three steps to bring the sanctions to bear once 
again on those who are obstructing the restoration of democracy and 
return of President Aristide by blocking fulfillment of the Governors 
Island Agreement and implementation of the relevant U.N. Security 
Council resolutions.
    First, effective at 11:59 p.m. e.d.t., October 18, 1993, I issued 
Executive Order No. 12872, authorizing the Department of the Treasury to 
block assets of persons who have: (1) contributed to the obstruction of 
U.N. resolutions 841 and 843, the Governors Island Agreement, or the 
activities of the United Nations Mission in

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Haiti; (2) perpetuated or contributed to the violence in Haiti; or (3) 
materially or financially supported either the obstruction or the 
violence referred to above. This authority is in addition to the 
blocking authority provided for in the original sanctions and in 
Executive Order No. 12853 of June 30, 1993, and ensures adequate scope 
to reach U.S.-connected assets of senior military and police officials, 
civilian ``attaches,'' and their financial patrons. A list of 41 such 
individuals was published on November 1, 1993, by the Office of Foreign 
Assets Control of the Department of the Treasury (58 Fed. Reg. 58482). A 
copy of the notice is attached.
    Second, also effective at 11:59 p.m. e.d.t., October 18, 1993, the 
Department of the Treasury revoked the suspension of its sanctions, so 
that the full scope of prior prohibitions has been reinstated. The 
reinstated sanctions again prohibit most unlicensed trade with Haiti and 
block the assets of those entities and persons covered by the broadened 
authority granted in Executive Order No. 12853 of June 16, 1993. 
Restrictions on the entry into U.S. ports of vessels whose Haitian calls 
would violate U.S. or OAS sanctions if they had been made by U.S. 
persons are also reinstated.
    Third, on October 18, I ordered the deployment of six U.S. Navy 
vessels off Haiti's shore to enforce strictly the U.N. sanctions and our 
regulations implementing the OAS embargo. Our ships have been, or will 
shortly be, joined by vessels from the navies of Canada, France, 
Argentina, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.
    8. Economic sanctions against the de facto regime in Haiti were 
first imposed in October 1991. 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, including its overseas branches, 
or by any entity organized under the laws of Haiti and owned or 
controlled by a U.S. person.
    Subsequently, on October 28, 1991, President Bush 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-originated goods and 
services, after November 5, 1991, with certain limited exceptions. The 
order exempted trade in publications and other informational materials 
from the import, export, and payment prohibitions and permitted 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.
    9. 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 (IEEPA) (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), 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 
reported 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

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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.
    10. Since my report of July 12, 1993, the Office of Foreign Assets 
Control of the Department of the Treasury (FAC), in consultation with 
the Department of State and other Federal agencies, has issued three 
amendments to the Haitian Transactions Regulations (the 
``Regulations''), 31 C.F.R. Part 580. First, as previously reported, on 
June 4, 1993, FAC issued General Notice No. 1 (Haiti), entitled 
``Notification of Specially Designated Nationals of the de facto Regime 
in Haiti.'' This Notice listed persons identified as (1) having seized 
power illegally from the democratically elected government of President 
Aristide on September 30, 1991; (2) being substantially owned or 
controlled by the de facto regime in Haiti; or (3) having, since 12:23 
p.m. e.d.t., October 4, 1991, acted or purported to act directly or 
indirectly on behalf of the de facto regime in Haiti on under the 
asserted authority thereof. The effect of the Notice was (1) to block 
within the United States or within the possession or control of U.S. 
persons all property and interests in property of the blocked 
individuals and entities and (2) to prohibit transfers or payments to 
them by U.S. persons. The Regulations were amended on July 27, 1993, to 
incorporate as Appendix A the list of persons and entities identified in 
General Notice No. 1 (58 Fed. Reg. 40043). A copy of the amendment is 
attached to this report.
    Second, consistent with United Nations Security Council Resolution 
No. 861 of August 27, 1993, and the August 27, 1993, announcement of the 
Secretary General of the OAS, the Regulations were amended on August 31, 
1993, (58 Fed. Reg. 46540) to suspend sanctions against Haiti. A copy of 
the amendment is attached to this report. The amendment, new section 
580.518, prospectively suspended trade restrictions against Haiti and 
authorized new financial and other transactions with the Government of 
Haiti. The effect of this amendment was to authorize transactions 
involving property interests of the Government of Haiti that came within 
the United States or within the possession or control of U.S. persons 
after 9:35 a.m. e.d.t., August 31, 1993, or in which the interest of the 
Government of Haiti arose thereafter. Newly authorized transactions 
included, but were not limited to, otherwise lawful exportations and 
importations from Haiti, brokering transactions, and transfers of funds 
to the Government of Haiti for obligations due and payable after 9:35 
a.m. e.d.t., August 31, 1993.
    The amendment did not unblock property of the Government of Haiti 
that was blocked as of 9:35 a.m. e.d.t., August 31, 1993, nor did it 
affect enforcement actions involving prior violations of the 
Regulations, which would continue to be vigorously prosecuted. Blocked 
property of the Government of Haiti was to be unblocked by specific 
license on a case-by-case basis in consultations with that government. 
However, the amendment unblocked all blocked property of the Banque de 
l'Union Haitienne and of all individuals previously listed in Section I 
of Appendix A to the Regulations.
    Third, as noted previously, consistent with United Nations Security 
Council Resolution No. 873 of October 13, 1993, and Executive Order No. 
12872 (58 Fed. Reg. 54029, October 20, 1993), the Regulations were 
amended effective 11:59 p.m. e.d.t., October 18, 1993 (58 Fed. Reg. 
54024), to reimpose sanctions against Haiti. A copy of the Executive 
order and of the amendment are attached to this report. The amendment 
removes section 580.518, discussed above.
    11. 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 of Haitian 
workers employed by Haiti's export assembly sector, 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 were issued (1) permitting expenditures from blocked 
assets for the operations of the legitimate 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.

[[Page 1995]]

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; 
(5) authorizing commercial sales of agricultural inputs such as 
fertilizer and foodcrop seeds; and (6) in order to combat deforestation, 
permitting the importation of agricultural products grown on trees.
    12. During this reporting period, U.S.-led OAS initiatives resulted 
in even greater intensification and coordination of enforcement 
activities. The U.S. Coast Guard, whose cutters had been patrolling just 
beyond Haiti's territorial waters, significantly increased vessel 
boardings, identification of suspected embargo violators, and referrals 
for investigation. Continued close coordination with the U.S. Customs 
Service in Miami sharply reduced the number of attempted exports of 
unmanifested, unauthorized merchandise.
    Since the last report, 16 penalties, totaling approximately $65,000, 
have been collected from U.S. businesses and individuals for violations 
of the Regulations. Seven violations involved unlicensed import- and 
export-related activity. As of September 21, 1993, payments of penalties 
assessed against the masters of vessels for unauthorized trade 
transactions or violations of entry restrictions totalled approximately 
$45,000. Total collections for the fiscal year have exceeded $210,000.
    13. The expenses incurred by the Federal Government in the 6-month 
period from April 4, 1993, through October 3, 1993, that are directly 
attributable to the authorities conferred by the declaration of a 
national emergency with respect to Haiti are estimated at approximately 
$3.1 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.
    I am committed to the restoration of democracy in Haiti and 
determined to see that Haiti and the Haitian people resume their 
rightful place in our hemispheric community of democracies. Active U.S. 
support for U.N./OAS efforts to resolve the Haitian crisis has led to 
the reimposition of sweeping economic sanctions. I call on all of 
Haiti's leaders to recall the solemn undertakings in the Governors 
Island Agreement and to adhere to those pledges, so that the sanctions 
can be lifted and the process of rebuilding their beleaguered country 
can begin. The United States will continue to play a leadership role in 
the international community's program of support and assistance for 
democracy in Haiti.
    I 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. 
This letter was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
November 15.