[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 30, Number 17 (Monday, May 2, 1994)]
[Pages 910-915]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Message to the Congress on Haiti

April 25, 1994

To the Congress of the United States:

    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 to bring 
about President Aristide's return by encouraging and facilitating a 
political process involving all the legitimate Haitian parties. The 
United States and the international community also offered material 
assistance within the context of an eventual settlement of the Haitian 
crisis to support the return to democracy, build constitutional 
structures, and foster economic well-being.
    In furtherance of these twin objectives--restoration of 
constitutional democracy and fostering economic recovery--as discussed 
in section 10 below, the United States has taken additional measures to 
block the U.S.-located assets of persons (civilian as well as military) 
whose conduct, or material or financial support, has assisted the 
illegal maintenance of the illegitimate regime in Haiti, including 
persons obstructing the U.N. Mission in Haiti or the implementation of 
the Governors Island Agreement, and persons per- 

[[Page 911]]

petuating or contributing to the violence in Haiti. In addition, in an 
effort to stabilize employment and minimize economic hardship for the 
local populace in Haiti, U.S. persons currently licensed to deal with 
the vital Haitian assembly sector have received reauthorization through 
May 31, 1994.
    3. This report is submitted to the Congress pursuant to 50 U.S.C. 
1641(c) and 1703(c), and discusses Administration actions and expenses 
since my last report (November 13, 1993) 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 Orders 
Nos. 12779, 12853, and 12872.
    4. 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, services, and 
importation into the United States of Haitian-origin 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.
    5. On June 30, 1993, I issued Executive Order No. 12853 that 
expanded the blocking of assets of the de facto regime to include assets 
of Haitian nationals identified by the Secretary of the Treasury as 
providing substantial financial or material contributions to the regime, 
or doing substantial business with the regime. That Executive order also 
implemented United Nations Security Council Resolution (``UNSC 
Resolution'') 841 of June 16, 1993, by prohibiting the sale or supply by 
U.S. persons or from the United States, or using U.S.-registered vessels 
or aircraft, of petroleum or petroleum products or arms and related 
materiel of all types to any person or entity in Haiti, or for the 
purpose of any business carried on in or operated from Haiti, or 
promoting or calculated to promote such sale or supply. Carriage of such 
goods to Haiti on U.S.-registered vessels is prohibited, as is any 
transaction for the evasion or avoidance of, or attempt to evade or 
avoid, any prohibition in the order.
    6. As noted in my previous report, apparent steady progress toward 
achieving the firm goal of restoring democracy in Haiti permitted the 
United States and the world community to suspend economic sanctions 
against Haiti in August 1993. With strong support from the United 
States, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 861 on 
August 27, 1993, suspending the petroleum, arms, and financial sanctions 
imposed under UNSC Resolution 841. On the

[[Page 912]]

same day, the Secretary General of the OAS announced that the OAS was 
urging member states to suspend their trade embargoes. In concert with 
these U.N. and OAS actions, U.S. trade and financial restrictions 
against Haiti were suspended, effective at 9:35 a.m. e.d.t., on August 
31, 1993.
    These steps demonstrated my determination and that of the 
international community to see that Haiti and the Haitian people resume 
their rightful place in our hemispheric community of democracies. Our 
work to reach a solution to the Haitian crisis through the Governors 
Island Agreement was however seriously threatened by accelerating 
violence in Haiti sponsored or tolerated by the de facto regime. The 
violence culminated on October 11, 1993, with the obstruction by armed 
``attaches,'' supported by the Haitian military and police, of the 
deployment of U.S. military trainers and engineers sent to Haiti as part 
of the United Nations Mission in Haiti. The Haitian military's decision 
to dishonor its commitments made in the Governors Island Agreement was 
apparent. On October 13, 1993, the United Nations Security Council 
issued Resolution 873, which terminated the suspension of sanctions 
effective at 11:59 p.m. e.d.t., October 18, 1993.
    As a result, effective at 11:59 p.m. e.d.t., October 18, 1993, the 
Department of the Treasury revoked the suspension of those trade and 
financial sanctions that had been suspended, so that the full scope of 
prior prohibitions was reinstated (58 Fed. Reg. 54024, October 19, 
1993). In addition to the actions I took in Executive Order No. 12853, 
the reinstated sanctions in the Haitian Transactions Regulations, 31 
C.F.R. Part 580 (the ``HTR''), prohibit most unlicensed trade with 
Haiti, and block the assets of the de facto regime in Haiti and the 
Government of Haiti. Restrictions on the entry into U.S. ports of 
vessels whose Haitian calls would violate U.S. or OAS sanctions had they 
been made by U.S. persons were also reinstated.
    Also effective at 11:59 p.m. e.d.t., October 18, 1993, I issued 
Executive Order No. 12872 (58 Fed. Reg. 54029), authorizing the 
Department of the Treasury to block assets of persons who have: (1) 
contributed to the obstruction of UNSC resolutions 841 and 873, the 
Governors Island Agreement, or the activities of the U.N. Mission in 
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 
authority to reach assets subject to U.S. jurisdiction of military and 
police officials, civilian ``attaches'' and their financial patrons 
meeting these criteria. A list of 41 such individuals was published on 
November 1, 1993, by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (FAC) of the 
Department of the Treasury (58 Fed. Reg. 58480).
    On October 18, I ordered the deployment of six U.S. Navy vessels off 
Haiti's shores. To improve compliance with the ban on petroleum and 
munitions shipments to Haiti contained in UNSC resolutions 841 and 873, 
my Administration succeeded in securing the passage of UNSC Resolution 
No. 875. UNSC Resolution 875 calls upon the United Nations Member States 
acting either nationally or through regional agencies or arrangements to 
halt inward maritime shipping for Haiti in order to inspect and verify 
that the Haiti-bound cargo does not contain UNSC-prohibited petroleum or 
arms. A multinational Maritime Interdiction Force that includes elements 
of the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard has been established and now 
patrols the waters off 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 
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 
Executive Orders Nos. 12779, 12853, and 12872, were imposed pursuant to 
the authority vested in the President by the Constitution and laws of 
the United States, including the statutes cited above, as well as the 
United Nations Participation Act of 1945 (22 U.S.C.

[[Page 913]]

287c), and represent the response by the United States to the United 
Nations Security Council and OAS directives and recommendations 
discussed above.
    8. Since my report of November 13, 1993, FAC, in consultation with 
the Department of State and other Federal agencies, has issued General 
Notice No. 3, ``Notification of Blocked Individuals of Haiti.'' The 
Notice, issued January 27, 1994, identifies 523 officers of the Haitian 
Armed Forces who have been determined by the Department of the Treasury 
to be Blocked Individuals of Haiti. General Notice No. 4, issued April 
4, 1994, identifies an additional 27 individual officers of the Haitian 
Armed Forces and one civilian who have been determined by the Department 
of the Treasury to be Blocked Individuals of Haiti. These are persons 
who are members of the de facto regime or are blocked pursuant to 
Executive Orders Nos. 12853 or 12872. (A comprehensive list of Blocked 
Individuals of Haiti was published on April 7, 1994 (59 Fed. Reg. 
16548)).
    U.S. persons are prohibited from engaging in transactions with these 
individuals and with all officers of the Haitian military (as members of 
the de facto regime), whether or not named in General Notice No. 3 or 
No. 4, unless the transactions are licensed by FAC. Additionally, all 
interests in property of these individuals that are in the United States 
or in the possession or control of U.S. persons, including their 
overseas branches, are blocked. U.S. persons are not prohibited, 
however, from paying funds owed to these entities or individuals into 
the appropriate blocked account in domestic U.S. financial institutions. 
Copies of the comprehensive list and of General Notices No. 3 and No. 4 
are attached.
    A policy statement, effective January 31, 1994 (59 Fed. Reg. 8134, 
February 18, 1994), was published to extend until March 31, 1994, the 
expiration date for all current assembly sector licenses issued by FAC 
pursuant to the HTR, and a second policy notice, effective March 29, 
1994, was published on April 1, 1994 (59 Fed. Reg. 15342), extending 
these licenses through May 31, 1994. These licenses have provided an 
exception to the comprehensive U.S. trade embargo on Haiti under which 
the ``assembly sector'' has continued to receive parts and supplies 
from, and supply finished products to, persons in the United States. 
Copies of the policy statements are attached.
    Assembly sector trade with the United States accounted for a 
significant portion of Haiti's imports, and a substantial majority of 
its exports, prior to the institution of the OAS-requested embargo in 
November 1991. Although initially suspended due to the embargo, assembly 
sector imports from and exports to the United States were allowed to 
resume on a case-by-case basis beginning in February 1992 in order to 
keep poorer segments of the Haitian population employed and to reduce 
their incentive to attempt illegal and dangerous immigration by sea to 
the United States and other countries. However, the continuing 
uncertainties of the Haitian situation have led to a sharp decline in 
assembly sector activity, where employment is now estimated to be no 
more than 10 percent of pre-embargo levels.
    9. 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 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. 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,

[[Page 914]]

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.
    10. During this reporting period, U.S.-led OAS initiatives resulted 
in even greater intensification and coordination of enforcement 
activities. Continued close coordination with the U.S. Customs Service 
in Miami sharply reduced the number of attempted exports of 
unmanifested, unauthorized merchandise. New FAC initiatives are expected 
to result in more effective coordination of Customs Service and 
Department of Justice activities in prosecution of embargo violations. 
During the reporting period, the multinational Maritime Interdiction 
Force that contains elements of the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard, 
continued to patrol offshore Haiti and to conduct ship boardings, 
inspections of cargoes bound for Haiti, identification of suspected 
violators, and referrals for investigation. The Maritime Interdiction 
Force has boarded 612 ships and diverted 38 of these ships for various 
reasons (inaccessibility of cargo for inspection, items prohibited by 
the United Nations Security Council embargo on board) from its inception 
to March 30, 1994. Actions have been taken to counter embargo violations 
as they have developed. There have been high-level discussions with the 
Government of the Dominican Republic to encourage its stated desire to 
cooperate with the United Nations in increasing the effectiveness of the 
enforcement of the sanctions on that country's common border with Haiti 
across which fuel smuggling is occurring. Other steps have been taken to 
control sales of bunker fuel by ships in Haitian ports and smuggling of 
fuel in Haitian-Dominican coastal waters.
    The Department of the Treasury, in close coordination with 
Department of State and the intelligence community, continues to 
designate ``Blocked Individuals of Haiti,'' blocking the assets of 
persons (civilian as well as military) whose conduct meets the criteria 
of Executive Orders Nos. 12755, 12853, and 12872, including persons 
obstructing the U.N. Mission in Haiti or the implementation of the 
Governors Island Agreement and persons perpetuating or contributing to 
the violence in Haiti. The list was last expanded on January 27, when 
the entire officer corps of the Haitian Armed Forces was blocked as part 
of the de facto regime in Haiti, and on April 4, when one additional 
civilian was added to the list. As others subverting democracy in Haiti 
and additional members of the officer corps are identified by name, 
these names will be incorporated into the list of ``Blocked Individuals 
of Haiti.''
    Since the last report, 35 penalties, totaling in excess of $146,000, 
have been collected from U.S. businesses and individuals for violations 
of the Regulations. Eighteen violations involved unlicensed import- and 
export-related activity. As of March 4, 1994, 12 payments of penalties 
assessed against the masters of vessels for unauthorized trade 
transactions or violations of entry restrictions totalled about $53,000. 
A significant penalty collection during the reporting period was from 
American Airlines for its direct payments of taxes and fees to the de 
facto regime in Haiti.
    11. The expenses incurred by the Federal Government in the 6-month 
period from October 4, 1993, through April 3, 1994, that are directly 
attributable to the authorities conferred by the declaration of a 
national emergency with respect to Haiti are estimated at about $3.4 
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.
    12. 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 United Nations/OAS efforts to resolve the Haitian crisis has 
led to the maintenance and enforcement of sweeping economic sanctions. 
Our diplomatic efforts complementing these sanctions are designed to 
encourage and facilitate participation by all legitimate Haitian 
political elements in a broad-based political process that will bring 
about the ful- 

[[Page 915]]

fillment of the undertakings they made in the Governors Island Agreement 
so that Haitian democracy can be restored and President Aristide can 
return to Haiti. Such a political process will enable the lifting of 
sanctions and the start of Haiti's economic reconstruction and national 
reconciliation. The United States will continue to play a leadership 
role in the international community's program of support and assistance 
for the restoration of democracy and return of President Aristide to 
Haiti.
    I will continue to report periodically to the Congress on 
significant developments pursuant to 50 U.S.C. 1703(c).
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
April 25, 1994.