Letter to Congressional Leaders Reporting on the National Emergency With Respect to Haiti

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 together with the Organization of American States (OAS), immediately imposed sanctions against the illegal regime. The United States 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 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.

As a result of continuing military intransigence in the face of these efforts and of worsening human rights abuses in Haiti, the conclusion was reached that no political settlement of the Haitian crisis was possible as long as the three principal military leaders remained in power. Therefore, beginning in early May 1994, a series of steps were taken to intensify the pressure of sanctions on the military leaders and their associates in order to bring the three leaders to step down. With U.S. leadership, the U.N. Security Council on May 6, 1994, enacted Resolution 917, imposing comprehensive trade sanctions and other measures on Haiti. This was followed by a succession of unilateral United States sanctions—banning scheduled air service and financial transactions to or from Haiti or between Haiti and third countries through the United States and blocking the assets in the United States or under United States control of Haitians resident in Haiti. Additionally, under authorities not related to the IEEPA, all visas that had been issued to Haitians at Port-au-Prince or Curacao before May 11, 1994, were revoked. Several other countries took similar actions.

The continued resistance of the illegal regime to the efforts of the international community also prompted the United States to augment embargo enforcement. The United States and other countries entered into a cooperative endeavor with the Dominican Republic to monitor that country's enforcement of sanctions along its land border with Haiti and in its coastal waters.

As the reporting period progressed, it became apparent that the Haitian military leaders, even under the pressure of intense worldwide sanctions, were determined to cling to power and to block the restoration of democracy and return of President Aristide. Internal repression continued to worsen, exemplified by the expulsion in July of the U.N./OAS-sponsored International Civilian Mission (ICM) human rights observers. As a result of this deterioration and the threat it posed to peace and security in the region, the U.N. Security Council enacted Resolution 940 on July 31, 1994, authorizing the use of all necessary means to bring about the departure of the military leadership and the return of the legitimate authorities including President Aristide. In the succeeding weeks, the international community under U.S. leadership assembled a multinational coalition force to carry out this mandate.

On September 18, 1994, I directed the deployment of U.S. Armed Forces to Haiti to remove the military leaders and restore democracy. However, I remained deeply committed to achieving our goals peacefully if possible. Therefore, on the previous day I had sent former President Jimmy Carter, Senator Sam Nunn and retired General Colin Powell to Haiti on a final diplomatic mission. The combination of an imminent military operation and determined diplomacy led to an agreement on September 18, that portends the early achievement of our and the international community's goals in Haiti. The military leaders have relinquished power and the legitimate authorities will be restored by October 15 at the latest. As a result of the agreement reached in Port-au-Prince on September 18 U.S. forces in the vanguard of the multinational coalition force drawn from 26 countries began a peaceful deployment to Haiti on September 19.

In a spirit of reconciliation and reconstruction, President Aristide called on September 25 for the immediate easing of sanctions to further the mission of the coalition forces and begin without delay the work of rebuilding. In response to this request, on September 26, in an address before the United Nations General Assembly, I announced my intention to suspend all unilateral sanctions against Haiti except those that affect the military leaders and their immediate supporters and families. I also directed that steps be taken in accordance with Resolutions 917 and 940 to permit supplies and services to flow to Haiti to restore health care, water and electrical services, provide construction materials for humanitarian programs, and allow the shipment of communications, agricultural, and educational materials.

Regulations to accomplish those objectives were published in the Federal Register on October 5. In addition, the U.N. Security Council on September 29 enacted Resolution 944 directing that all U.N. sanctions be terminated the day after President Aristide returns to Haiti. Finally, the national emergency with respect to Haiti was extended on September 30, 1994, to allow the continued enforcement of those sanctions that are to remain in force until the restoration of democracy to Haiti is completed as will be signified by President Aristide's return to his country.

3. This report is submitted to the Congress pursuant to 50 U.S.C. 1641(c) and 1703(c). It is not a report on all U.S. activities with respect to Haiti, but discusses only those Administration actions and expenses since my last report (April 25, 1994), 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, 12872, 12914, 12917, 12920, and 12922.

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, and 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 preembargo 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 U.N. 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, or petroleum or petroleum products or arms and related materials 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 was prohibited, as was any transaction for the evasion or avoidance of, or attempt to evade or avoid, any prohibition in the order.

6. As reported earlier, 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 U.N. Security Council adopted Resolution 861 on August 27, 1993, suspending the petroleum, arms, and financial sanctions imposed under UNSC Resolution 841. On the 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.

Our work to reach a solution to the Haitian crisis through the Governors Island Agreement was 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 U.N. 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). The reinstated sanctions in the Haitian Transactions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. Part 580 (the HTR), prohibited most unlicensed trade with Haiti, and blocked the assets of the de facto regime in Haiti, and of 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., 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 was in addition to the blocking authority provided for in the original sanctions and in Executive Order No. 12853 of June 30, 1993, and ensured 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 of the Department of the Treasury (FAC) (58 Fed. Reg. 58480).

On October 18, 1993, 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, the United States succeeded in securing the passage of UNSC Resolution 875. UNSC Resolution 875 called upon the United Nations Member States, acting with national or through regional agencies or arrangements, to halt inbound 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, including elements of the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard, was established.

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, 22 U.S.C. 287c, and represent the response by the United States to the U.N. Security Council and OAS directives and recommendations discussed above.

8. Since my report of April 25, 1994, in order to implement UNSC Resolution 917 of May 6, and to take additional steps with respect to the actions and policies of the de facto regime in Haiti, I issued Executive Order No. 12914, dated May 7, 1994. Effective at 11:59 p.m. e.d.t., on May 8, 1994, the order blocks all funds and financial resources of three categories of individuals that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of U.S. persons, including their overseas branches. These groups include (a) all officers of the Haitian military, including the police, and their immediate families; (b) the major participants in the coup d'etat in Haiti of 1991 and in the illegal governments since the coup d'etat and their immediate families; and (c) those employed by or acting on behalf of the Haitian military, and their immediate families. The Executive order also bans arriving and departing flights, and overflights stopping or originating in Haiti, except regularly scheduled commercial passenger flights. A copy of E.O. No. 12914 (59 Fed. Reg. 24339, May 10, 1994), is attached for reference.

9. Subsequently, on May 21, 1994, in implementation of UNSC Resolution 917 of May 6, and in order to further strengthen sanctions in response to the actions and policies of the de facto regime in Haiti, I issued Executive Order No. 12917. Effective at 11:59 p.m. e.d.t., on May 21, 1994, the order prohibits (1) the importation into the United States of any goods originating in Haiti or services performed in Haiti, that are exported from Haiti after May 21, 1994, or any activity by any U.S. persons or in the United States that promotes, or is intended to promote, such importation; (2) any activity by U.S. persons or in the United States that promotes the exportation or transshipment of any goods originating in Haiti that are exported from Haiti after May 21, 1994; (3) any dealing by U.S. persons or in the United States, or using U.S.-registered vessels or aircraft, of any goods originating in Haiti that are exported from Haiti after May 21, 1994; and (4) the sale, supply, or exportation by U.S. persons or from the United States, or using U.S.-registered vessels or aircraft, of any goods, regardless of origin, to Haiti, or for the purpose of any business carried on in or operated from Haiti, or any activity by U.S. persons or in the United States that promotes such sale, supply, or exportation.

Exemptions from the foregoing prohibitions include: (1) informational materials, such as books and other publications, needed for the free flow of information; (2) the sale, supply, or exportation of medicines and medical supplies, as authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury, and rice, beans, sugar, wheat flour, cooking oil, corn, corn flour, milk and edible tallow, provided that neither the de facto regime in Haiti nor any person designated by the Secretary of the Treasury as a blocked individual or entity of Haiti is a direct or indirect party to the transaction; and (3) transactions specifically licensed or otherwise authorized by FAC. A copy of E.O. No. 12917 (59 Fed. Reg. 26925, May 24, 1994) is attached for reference.

10. Again, on June 10, 1994, in order to take additional steps with respect to the actions and policies of the de facto regime in Haiti, I issued Executive Order No. 12920. Effective at 11:59 p.m. e.d.t., on June 10, 1994, the order prohibits, first, any payment or transfer of funds or other financial or investment assets or credits to Haiti from or through the United States, or to or through the United States from Haiti, with the following exceptions: (1) payments and transfers for the conduct of activities in Haiti of the United States Government, the United Nations, the OAS, or foreign diplomatic missions; (2) payments and transfers between the United States and Haiti for the conduct of activities in Haiti of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) engaged in the provision in Haiti of essential humanitarian assistance as authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury; (3) payments and transfers from a U.S. person to any close relative of the remitter or of the remitter's spouse who is resident in Haiti, provided that such payments do not exceed $50.00 per month to any one household, and that neither the de facto regime in Haiti nor any person designated by the Secretary of the Treasury as a blocked individual or entity of Haiti is a beneficiary of the remittance; (4) reasonable amounts of funds carried by travelers to or from Haiti to cover their travel-related expenses; and (5) payments and transfers incidental to shipments to Haiti of food, medicine, medical supplies, and informational materials exempt from the export prohibitions of this order. The order also prohibits the sale, supply, or exportation by U.S. persons or from the United States, or using U.S.-registered vessels or aircraft, of any goods, technology, or services, regardless of origin, to Haiti, or for the purpose of any business carried on in or operated from Haiti, or any activity by U.S. persons in the United States that promotes such sale, supply, or exportation. Exportations of the following types are exempt from the foregoing provision: (1) informational materials, such as books and other publications needed for the free flow of information; (2) medicines and medical supplies, as authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury, and rice, beans, sugar, wheat flour, cooking oil, corn, corn flour, milk, and edible tallow, provided that neither the de facto regime in Haiti nor any person designated by the Secretary of the Treasury as a blocked individual or entity of Haiti is a direct or indirect party to the transaction; and (3) donations of food, medicine, and medical supplies intended to relieve human suffering. A copy of E.O. No. 12920 (59 Fed. Reg. 30501, June 14, 1994), is attached for reference.

11. Once again, on June 21, 1994, in order to take additional steps with respect to the actions and policies of the de facto regime in Haiti, I issued Executive Order No. 12922. Effective at 10:09 p.m. e.d.t., on June 21, 1994, the order blocks all property and interests in property that are or come within the United States or within the possession or control of U.S. persons, including their overseas branches, of (1) any Haitian national resident in Haiti; or (2) any other person subject to the blocking provisions of Executive Order Nos. 12775, 12779, 12853, 12872, or 12914 and Haitian citizens who are members of the immediate family of any such person, as identified by the Secretary of the Treasury. This provision does not apply to property of nongovernmental organizations engaged in the provision of essential humanitarian assistance in Haiti or in the conduct of refugee and migration operations in Haiti, as identified by the Secretary of the Treasury.

Payments and transfers previously authorized by Executive Order No. 12920, of June 10, 1994, may continue to be made in a manner directed by the Secretary of the Treasury. A copy of Executive Order No. 12922 (59 Fed. Reg. 32645, June 23, 1994), is attached for reference.

12. 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 provided an exception to the comprehensive U.S. trade embargo on Haiti under which the "assembly sector" continued to receive parts and supplies from, and supply finished products to, persons in the United States.

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 migration by sea to the United States and other countries. However, the continuing uncertainties of the Haitian situation led to a sharp decline in assembly sector activity, with such employment estimated by the spring of 1994 to be no more than 10 percent of preembargo levels.

As noted above and as mandated by UNSC Resolution 917, Executive Order No. 12917 further restricted imports from and exports to Haiti after May 21, 1994. Consequently, all FAC licenses for importation into the United States from the Haitian assembly sector were withdrawn effective May 22, 1994. The FAC is continuing, in close coordination with the Department of State, to evaluate license applications from U.S. companies seeking to repatriate capital equipment, parts, and components previously exported for use in assembly sector activities.

Following the successful deployment to Haiti of U.S. forces serving as the vanguard of the multinational coalition force, and as promised in my September 26 address before the United Nations General Assembly, amendments to the HTR were published on October 5, 1994, suspending, effective 10:28 a.m. on October 5, 1994, the sanctions that the United States had imposed on Haiti unilaterally, with the exceptions noted below. Section 580.211 of the HTR, which was added to the HTR in June 1992 to deny entry into U.S. ports to vessels engaged in certain trade transactions with Haiti, was removed. A new section, 580.518, was added to license generally the export from the United States to Haiti of all food and food products.

Section 580.519 was added to the HTR to remove the prohibition (which I had imposed in Executive Order No. 12920 on June 14) on payments or transfers of funds or other financial or investment assets to Haiti from or through the United States, or to or through the United States from Haiti. Section 580.520 was added to unblock the property and interests in the United States of Haitian nationals resident in Haiti, which I had blocked in Executive Order No. 12922 on June 23; however, section 580.520 provides that the property and interests in property of certain persons, listed in the revised "Appendix A" to the HTR, will remain blocked until further notice. The HTR were also amended by the addition of section 580.521 to permit the specific licensing of exports to Haiti of fuel and equipment for electric power generation, telecommunications materials, media and educational supplies, agricultural supplies, and construction and transportation supplies for humanitarian purposes. Section 580.522 was added to authorize the case-by-case licensing of charter flights between the United States and Haiti for use by humanitarian relief agencies to transport needed personnel and supplies, or for journalists covering events in Haiti. The HTR were also amended to provide, in new section 580.523, a general license authorizing the export to Haiti from the United States of equipment needed for reporting and broadcasting from Haiti and for documentary film making in Haiti, provided that such equipment is removed from Haiti when the reporting, broadcasting, or filming has been completed.

Each of the new sections added to the HTR provides that no transaction authorized thereunder may result in a payment or transfer to, from or through a person listed in the revised "Appendix A" to the HTR. In the revised "Appendix A" are set forth, in section I, the names of individuals who, until further notice, will remain "Blocked Individuals of Haiti," and in section II, entities of the de facto regime in Haiti whose assets will remain blocked.

On September 29, I directed the Secretary of Transportation to issue the necessary directives to terminate the ban on regularly-scheduled air passenger service between the United States and Haiti that had been imposed on June 24.

The HTR will be further amended upon the return of President Aristide to Haiti to provide that, in accordance with U.N. Resolution 944 of September 29, 1994, on the day following his return, the U.S. sanctions imposed pursuant to U.N. Resolutions 841, 873, and 917 will be terminated. At that time, I will also direct the Secretary of Transportation to rescind the ban on all other air transportation (all cargo and charter) between the United States and Haiti that I imposed on May 7, 1994.

13. Humanitarian Shipments. Executive Order No. 12917 revoked an earlier exception to the export ban permitting the exportation to Haiti of "donated articles to relieve human suffering." A substantial amount of humanitarian aid, such as clothing or shoes, had previously been shipped to Haiti pursuant to this exception. The exception of donated foodstuffs was not affected. However, the Executive order provides an exemption from its trade prohibitions for the sale, supply, or exportation of certain basic commodities essential to humanitarian assistance programs serving Haiti's urban and rural poor, i.e., medicines and medical supplies and certain nutritional staples of the Haitian diet, as well as for informational materials. The FAC developed procedures to facilitate U.N. Sanctions Committee approval for humanitarian shipments to Haiti that do not fall within the narrowly-defined U.N. exemption categories. Specific authorizations have also been issued on a caseby-case basis for commercial deliveries to certain "blocked individuals of Haiti," in order to allow the continued supply in Haiti of essential foodstuffs, while retaining the ability to closely monitor such transactions. Food supplies and prices are being monitored for profiteering by Haitian food importers. Between issuance of Executive Order No. 12917 on May 21, and September 1, 1994, FAC issued 94 specific licenses for such humanitarian exports.

Humanitarian Services. Executive Order No. 12920 exempts from its financial prohibitions payments and transfers between the United States and Haiti in support of the conduct of activities in Haiti of NGOs engaged in the provision in Haiti of essential humanitarian assistance. The FAC immediately issued a specific license to the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID), permitting it to continue uninterrupted its essential services in Haiti. Subsequently, based on recommendations by AID and the State Department, FAC developed a system of registration for NGOs engaged in relief efforts such as the delivery of food, medicine and medical supplies, as well as refugee and migration operations, to assure that approved payment orders are neither rejected nor blocked by U.S. banks in implementing the financial prohibitions of recent Executive orders. Since June 10, FAC has registered 156 NGOs, of which 16 have been issued specific licenses authorizing provision of their services in Haiti. One application has been denied. Others are under review by the Department of State and AID.

Air Transportation Services. Executive Order No. 12914, effective 11:59 p.m. e.d.t., May 8, 1994, banned arriving and departing flights and overflights stopping or originating in Haiti, except regularly scheduled commercial passenger flights. On June 10, an order was issued by the President to the Secretary of Transportation that terminated, effective June 24, 1994, regularly scheduled air service between the United States and Haiti by U.S. and Haitian carriers.

Specific licenses have been issued to authorize air ambulance services for medical evacuation flights to and from Haiti. Licenses have also been issued to authorize certain cargo flights for the delivery of humanitarian shipments, including food and medicine, by registered NGOs, as well as passenger service for NGO personnel and a congressional delegation wishing to assist in food distribution. The FAC also has licensed a U.S. air carrier to continue paying its Haitian employees in Port-au-Prince. In addition to providing support for the airline's Haitian employees and their families, the license aimed to position the airline to resume service speedily in the event of an emergency or when sanctions were lifted. Effective on the date of the rescission of the June 10, 1994, unilateral ban on scheduled air service between the United States and Haiti, carriers are authorized to resume such in coordination with the commander of the Multinational Force who controls the Haitian airports.

More than 35 requests have been received from news organizations for specific licenses to charter flights to Haiti in connection with newsgathering activities, ranging from personnel rotation and equipment transportation to proposals from nationally known television anchors to conduct interviews. Licensees include major U.S. and foreign networks.

Blocked Haitian-Owned Vessels. Several dozen Haitian-owned vessels in the United States were blocked by Executive Order No. 12922 on June 21, 1994. Nearly all such vessels were old, smallcapacity vessels (many wood-hulled) that formerly loaded and discharged cargoes along the narrow Miami River. These vessels that had previously delivered the bulk of humanitarian assistance shipments to Haiti, were moored at the facilities of their U.S. agents and presented a serious hazard to navigation (particularly with the onset of the hurricane season), clogging the channel and occupying needed docking space. Most Haitian-owners were unable to finance the costs of a long-term lay-up. Some 170 crew members, who were confined to the vessels, were faced with diminishing provisions and maintenance supplies, and dependency upon donations from the local community.

Specific licenses have been issued to U.S. agents for the blocked vessels to authorize the provisioning, maintenance and repairs necessary to ensure seaworthiness to facilitate the lawful return of crew members to their home countries. No debits of U.S.-blocked funds were authorized by such licenses. The FAC has also issued licenses effectively unblocking the Haitian vessels by authorizing them to engage in trade transactions consistent with sanctions, particularly the carriage of authorized humanitarian supplies to Haiti. In some cases, where appropriate, the vessels were licensed to depart the United States but not return for the duration of the sanctions.

14. Following the issuance of the blocking order in Executive Order No. 12922 on June 21, more than 1,200 Haitian accounts were blocked totaling in excess of $79.1 million as of August 30, 1994. This success was due, in part, to FAC notices about the new Executive orders posted to banks through the Federal Reserve, the New York Clearing House, the Council on International Banking and the International Banking Operations Association in Miami. Notices also were posted to other electronic bulletin boards such as the Federal Bulletin Board of the United States Government Printing Office and the Economic Bulletin Board of the Department of Commerce. These notices were passed on to family remittance forwarders by banking oversight authorities in New York and Florida. The FAC launched an aggressive compliance initiative to identify family remittance forwarders in the Miami area who route funds to Haiti. This review revealed that one of the largest companies in south Florida handling remittances to Haiti (previously valued at about $500,000 per month) is owned and controlled by a Haitian national resident in Haiti. The company's accounts, with combined balances of more than $1 million, were blocked and other enforcement actions involving them were undertaken.

15. Continued close coordination between FAC special agents and the U.S. Customs Service in Miami has resulted in the interception of substantial quantities of checks and currency transported from and to Haiti through the United States, as well as the seizure of merchandise valued at $1.5 million. Numerous other enforcement matters are under active investigation.

During the reporting period, the multinational Maritime Interdiction Force (MIF), which 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 MIF boardings resulted in numerous vessel diversions to non-Haitian ports after MIF boarding parties determined that cargo was not fully accessible for inspection or that vessels were attempting to enter Haiti with cargo prohibited by UNSC resolutions and U.S. sanctions. The FAC acted on MIF boarding reports by subsequently denying entry into the United States of several vessels that had attempted to violate the sanctions. With assumption of control of Haitian ports by the Multinational Force following its September 19 deployment to Haiti, enforcement of the maritime sanctions in the ports became possible. The MIF operations therefore were terminated on September 28, 1994.

16. Since my report of April 25, 1994, in consultation with the Department of State and other Federal agencies, FAC has issued General Notices No. 5, No. 6, No. 7, No. 8, No. 9, and No. 10, "Notification of Blocked Individuals and Blocked Entities of Haiti." The Notices (issued June 2, June 17, June 22 (two Notices), August 2, and September 14, 1994, respectively) identify a total of 372 additional individuals and 94 companies and banks determined by the Department of the Treasury to be Blocked Individuals and Blocked Entities of Haiti. These are persons (1) who seized power illegally from the democratically-elected government of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on September 30, 1991, or who have since the effective date of Executive Order No. 12775, acted or purported to act directly or indirectly on behalf of, or under the asserted authority of, such persons or of any agencies, instrumentalities or entities of the de facto regime in Haiti or any extra-constitutional successor thereto; (2) are the immediate family members of an individual who is (a) an officer of the Haitian military, including the police, (b) a major participant in the coup d'etat in Haiti of 1991 or in the illegal governments since the coup d'etat, (c) employed by or acting on behalf of the Haitian military, or (d) a Haitian national resident in Haiti; or persons subject to the blocking provisions of Executive Orders No. 12775, No. 12779, No. 12853, No. 12872, or No. 12914, or a Haitian citizen who is member of the immediate family of such person. United States persons are prohibited from engaging in transactions with these entities and individuals and with all officers of the Haitian military unless the transactions are licensed by FAC. All assets owned or controlled by these parties that are or come within the United States or that are or come within the possession or control of U.S. persons, including their overseas branches, are blocked. United States persons are not prohibited, however, from paying funds owed to these entities or individuals into blocked Government of Haiti Account No. 021083909 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. Copies of General Notices No. 5 - No. 10 are attached for reference.

On August 18, 1994, in consultation with the Department of State and other Federal agencies, FAC identified three additional entities of Haiti, whose property and interests in property are now blocked pursuant to Executive Order No. 12922. On the same date, FAC removed the name of one individual from the list of Blocked Individuals of Haiti. These actions bring the total number of entities so blocked to 128 and the number of individuals to 916.

Since March 1994, FAC has collected 49 civil monetary penalties, totaling in excess of $133,000 as of August 30, 1994. Penalties were imposed pursuant to FAC enforcement investigations, U.S. Customs Service referrals, and FAC compliance audits of reports required pursuant to specific licenses. The enforcement investigations dealt with violations of the HTR by vessels carrying unauthorized and nonexempt cargo to Haiti. The Customs Service referrals all involved import and export violations of the embargo. Compliance audits related to licenses issued to U.S. participants in Haiti's assembly sector.

17. The expenses incurred by the Federal Government in the 6-month period from April 4 through October 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 $3.7 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.

The combination over time of mediation among the Haitian parties and steadily intensified sanctions proved, in the end, ineffective in budging the Haitian military leaders from their stubborn and illegal hold on power. Only the imminent threat of force combined with determined diplomacy was in the end successful in making it possible to achieve our objectives and further our national interests regarding Haiti. With the return of Haiti's democraticallyelected President near, it is my hope and expectation that those U.N. and unilateral sanctions that remain in effect, as detailed in this report, can soon be terminated, and that I will shortly have the privilege of sending to you my final report, pursuant to 50 U.S.C. 1641(c) on implementation of the national emergency regarding Haiti declared 3 years ago by the previous Administration in Executive Order No. 12775.

Sincerely,

WILLIAM J. CLINTON