The UN introduced a sanctions programme and arms embargo on Haiti in October 2022, in response to significant gang violence undermining security in the country. The EU began its own programme in November 2022, with OFSI and SECO introducing their own the following month.
On 21st October 2022 the UN established a sanctions regime targeting Haiti. On 19th October 2023 the UN extended the regime for a year, but replaced the targeted arms embargo by a territorial arms embargo. On 18th October 2024, the regime was extended for a further year.
On 27th September 2024, the UN sanctioned a former member of the Haitian parliament involved in weapons trafficking and the leader of the Gran Grif gang.
Sanction Name
UN Sanctions on Haiti
First Imposed
Last updated
Targets
Asset Freeze and Travel Ban:
• Individuals and entities who are responsible for or complicit in actions that threaten the peace, security or stability of Haiti.
Arms Embargo:
•Necessary measures must be taken to prevent the direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer to, or for the benefit of, the individuals and entities designated by the Committee from or through their territories or by their nationals, or using their flag vessels or aircraft of arms and related materiel of all types, including weapons and ammunition, military vehicles and equipment, paramilitary equipment, and spare parts for the aforementioned, and technical assistance, training, financial or other assistance, related to military activities or the provision, maintenance or use of any arms and related material, including the provision of armed mercenary personnel whether or not originating in their territories.
Exemptions
1. Exemptions can be granted to the travel ban on a case-by-case basis on humanitarian grounds, for religious obligations, the fulfilment of judicial processes, or if an exemption would further the objectives of peace and stability in Haiti.
2. Asset freeze exemptions apply to funds, other financial assets or economic resources that have been determined by relevant member states to be necessary to meet basic expenses, including payment for foodstuffs, rent or mortgage, medical treatment, taxes, insurance premiums, and public utility charges or exclusively for the payment of reasonable professional fees and reimbursement of incurred expenses associated with the provision of legal services. Exemptions also apply to necessary extraordinary expenses or the payment of judicial, administrative or arbitral liens or judgments, provided that the relevant lien or judgment was entered into prior to the date of the present resolution, and is not for the benefit of a designated person or entity.
3. The arms embargo does not apply to the supply, sale, or transfer of small arms, light weapons, or ammunition to the UN or a UN-authorised mission or to a security unit that operates under the command of the Government of Haiti, intended to be used by or in coordination with those entities and intended solely to further the objectives of peace and stability in Haiti. It also does not apply to other supplies, sale, or transfer of small arms, light weapons, and ammunition to Haiti as approved in advance by the UN Committee established pursuant to resolution 2653 (2022) to further the objectives of peace and stability in Haiti.
Sanction Name
Restrictive Measures In View Of The Situation In Haiti
SANCTIONS
First Imposed
Last updated
Targets
Asset Freeze and Travel Ban:
• Persons designated by the Sanctions Committee as responsible for or complicit in, or having engaged in, directly or indirectly, actions that threaten the peace, stability and security of Haiti.
Arms Embargo:
It is prohibited to:
• Provide technical assistance, training or other assistance, including the provision of armed mercenary personnel, related to military activities or the provision, maintenance or use of any arms and related materiel, directly or indirectly to any person or entity designated by the Sanctions Committee.
• Provide financing or financial assistance related to military activities, including in particular grants, loans and export credit insurance, as well as insurance and reinsurance for any sale, supply, transfer or export of arms and related materiel, or for the provision of related technical or other assistance, directly or indirectly to any designated person or entity.
Exemptions
1. The EU does not oblige Member States to refuse its own nationals entry into its territory.
2.Exemptions can be granted to the travel ban on a case-by-case basis on humanitarian grounds, including for religious obligations, for the fulfilment of a judicial process, or if an exemption would further the objectives of peace and stability in Haiti.
3. Asset freeze sanctions will not apply to funds and economic resources which the relevant Member State has determined to be necessary for basic expenses, including payment for food, rent, mortgages, medical treatment, taxes, insurance premiums and public utility charges.
4.Exemptions apply for the payment of reasonable professional fees and reimbursement of expenses associated with the provision of legal services or fees and service charges, as well as for the payment of fees or service charges for routine holding or maintenance of frozen funds, other financial assets and economic resources. Exemptions also apply to funds which are deemed to be necessary for extraordinary expenses approved by the Sanctions Committee, deemed to be the subject of a judicial, administrative or arbitral lien or judgement, or in the case that a payment was due under a contract entered prior to the designation of a person or entity, provided that the relevant Member State has determined that the payment is not directly or indirectly received by a person or entity.
Sanction Name
Regulation on Measures against Haiti
SANCTIONS
First Imposed
Last updated
Targets
Asset Freeze and Travel Ban:
• Persons designated by the Sanctions Committee as responsible for or complicit in, or having engaged in, directly or indirectly, actions that threaten the peace, stability and security of Haiti.
Arms Embargo:
It is prohibited to:
• Sell, supply, export or transit military capital goods of all kinds, including arms and ammunition, military vehicles and equipment, paramilitary equipment, as well as their accessories and spare parts, to any entities designated by the Sanctions Committee.
• Provide services of any kind, including financial services, brokerage services, technical training and the granting of financial means related to the sale, supply, export, transit, manufacture , the maintenance or use of military equipment of any kind or related to military activities, including the provision of armed mercenaries, to any entities designated by the Sanctions Committee.
Exemptions
1. SECO may , in exceptional circumstances, authorise payments from frozen accounts, transfers of frozen capital assets and the release of frozen economic resources in order to, prevent cases of hardship, to honour existing contracts, or to honour debts pursuant to an existing judicial, administrative or arbitral measure or decision.
2. The State Secretariat for Migration can grant exemptions to the travel ban if the entry or transit through Switzerland is necessary for the purposes of legal proceedings, or in accordance with the decisions of the relevant committee of the UN Security Council.
On 11th July 2023 the UK Export Control Joint Unit amended the Export Control Order 2008, thus extending transit control and the requirement of a licence for the transit of all military goods destined for Haiti, including light weapons.
Sanction Name
The Haiti (Sanctions) Regulations 2022
SANCTIONS
First Imposed
Last updated
Targets
Asset Freeze and Travel Ban:
Persons designated by the Sanctions Committee as responsible for or complicit in, or having engaged in, directly or indirectly, actions that threaten the peace, stability and security of Haiti.
Arms Embargo:
It is prohibited to:
• Trade in military goods and military technology, where the trade is with, or benefits, a designated person.
• Provide technical assistance, training or other assistance, including the provision of armed mercenary personnel, related to military activities or the provision, maintenance or use of any arms and related materiel, directly or indirectly to any person or entity designated by the Sanctions Committee.
• Provide financing or financial assistance related to military activities, including in particular grants, loans and export credit insurance, as well as insurance and reinsurance for any sale, supply, transfer or export of arms and related materiel, or for the provision of related technical or other assistance, directly or indirectly to any designated person or entity.
Exemptions
1. in relation to Treasury licences, a designated person can apply for a licence allowing funds to be released or made available in order to pay for basic needs, such as food.
2. The prohibitions are not contravened by a person making funds or economic resources available which are necessary to ensure the timely delivery of urgently needed humanitarian assistance, or to support other activities that support basic human needs, in Haiti, by the United Nations, its specialised agencies or programmes, humanitarian organisations having observer status with the United Nations General Assembly that provide humanitarian assistance, and their implementing partners, including bilaterally or multilaterally funded non-governmental organisations participating in the United Nations Humanitarian Response Plan for Haiti.
