Haiti Criminal Collusion Transparency Act of 2023
This bill requires the Department of State to provide an annual report to Congress on ties between criminal gangs and political and economic elites in Haiti. The bill also requires the President to impose visa- and property-blocking sanctions on certain individuals identified in the report if appropriate under specified U.S. laws.
Among other things, the report must (1) identify prominent criminal gangs in Haiti, (2) list Haitian political and economic elites that have links to criminal gangs, (3) assess how collusion between Haitian political and economic elites and criminal gangs threatens the Haitian people and U.S. national interests, and (4) assess what actions the governments of the United States and Haiti could take to address those threats.
The President may waive sanctions in certain circumstances.
The bill identifies the presence of 167 criminal gangs in Haiti, which control a significant portion of the country.
The prominent armed criminal gangs, such as the G9 Family and Allies and 400 Mawozo gangs, engage in violent crimes including murder, rape, arms and drug trafficking, kidnapping, and blockades.
There has been a significant increase in human rights violations and abuses in Haiti, with a 333 percent increase in violations related to life and security between July 2018 and December 2019.
The bill aims to require the Secretary of State, in coordination with the intelligence community, to submit a report to Congress on the ties between criminal gangs and political and economic elites in Haiti. The report should identify the prominent gangs, list individuals with links to criminal gangs, describe the relationships between these individuals and gangs, and assess their impact on Haitian people and US national interests.
