Today, OFAC designated Johnson “Izo” André (André), Renel Destina (Destina), Vitel’homme Innocent (Innocent), and Wilson Joseph (Joseph), the leaders of four criminal gangs in Haiti: 5 Segond, Grand Ravine, Kraze Baryé, and 400 Mawozo. André is wanted by the Haitian National Police for assassination, kidnapping for ransom, illegal possession of firearms, hijacking of freight trucks, and criminal conspiracy. André and his gang have been identified by survivors as being directly responsible for 1,035 documented cases of sexual violence in 2022 alone. Destina, who is a key ally of André, has committed kidnappings as well as killings, robberies, rapes, looting and burning of residences, and continuous attacks against Haitian police officers. Destina has also been indicted on charges of hostage taking by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for kidnapping U.S. citizens for ransom in February 2021. Innocent and Joseph have both been indicted by DOJ for their role in the armed kidnapping of U.S. citizens in Haiti in October 2022, and the Department of State issued reward offers of up to $2 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Innocent when he was added to the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted Fugitives List on November 15, 2023 and up to $1 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Joseph in 2022. On December 1, the United States also nominated these four individuals for designation at the UN under Security Council resolution 2653 (2022) concerning Haiti.
According to UN reporting, criminal gangs in Haiti have enhanced their cooperation, resulting in a significant increase in violence and criminal activity. Criminal gangs now reportedly control approximately 80 percent of Port-au-Prince. Kidnapping, rape, robbery, murder and sexual violence are daily threats for Haitians, including children, due to the prevalence of these criminal gangs.
André, Destina, Innocent, and Joseph are each being designated for being a foreign person who is responsible for or complicit in, or has directly or indirectly engaged in, serious human rights abuse and for being a foreign person who is or has been a leader or official of an entity, including any government entity, that has engaged in, or whose members have engaged in, serious human rights abuse relating to the leader’s or official’s tenure in their roles as leaders of criminal gangs in Haiti pursuant to E.O. 13818.
On December 23, 2016, the President signed the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (Pub. L. 114-328, Title XII, Subtitle F) (the “Act”) into law. The Act authorized the President to impose targeted sanctions on any foreign person the President determines is, among other things, responsible for extrajudicial killings, torture, or other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights, or a government official, or a senior associate of such an official, responsible for, or complicit in, ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing, acts of significant corruption.
On December 20, 2017, the President, invoking the authority of, inter alia, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701-1706) (IEEPA), issued Executive Order 13818 (82 FR 60839, December 26, 2017) (E.O. 13818), effective at 12:01 a.m. eastern standard time on December 21, 2017.
In E.O. 13818, the President determined that serious human rights abuse and corruption around the world constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States and declared a national emergency to deal with that threat.
OFAC is issuing the Global Magnitsky Sanctions Regulations, 31 CFR part 583 (the “Regulations”), to implement the Act and E.O. 13818, pursuant to authorities delegated to the Secretary of the Treasury in E.O. 13818. A copy of E.O. 13818 appears in appendix A to this part.
