Today the Council adopted additional restrictive measures against three Haitian individuals as well as one entity in view of the escalating gang violence, unremitting serious human rights abuses committed by the gangs in the country, and the continuing impunity for the perpetrators.
Today’s listings include Michel Martelly, the former President of the Republic of Haiti, and Youri Latortue, his former political advisor and the founder of the political party L’Ayiti An Aksyon (AAA). They both armed and financed several gangs to promote their political agenda, defend their personal and economic interests, and control the territory.
The Council also listed Rony Celestin, a former senator of Haiti, who is involved in violence linked to armed groups and smuggling and is responsible for orchestrating the murder of the journalist Néhémie Joseph, who exposed his illegal activities and corruption.
Lastly, the listed entity is Gang 5 Segond, a powerful gang based in the Village-de-Dieu neighbourhood in Port-au-Prince. The 5 Segond gang is responsible for committing theft, rape, kidnapping, murder, piracy, extorsion, obstruction of humanitarian aid, arms and drugs trafficking.
Those designated are subject to an asset freeze and EU persons and entities are forbidden from making funds, financial assets or economic resources available to them, both directly and indirectly. In addition, individuals are subject to a travel ban to the EU.
The relevant legal acts have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Background
On 28 July 2023, the Council amended its sanctions regime in view of the situation in Haiti, allowing the EU to autonomously impose restrictive measures on individuals and entities responsible for threatening the peace, security or stability of Haiti, or for undermining democracy or the rule of law in Haiti. This framework complements the sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council in October 2022.
On 17 October 2024, the European Council stated in its conclusions that it remained extremely concerned about the situation in Haiti and called for new targeted sanctions against individuals and entities responsible for violence, with the objective of helping to restore peace, security, stability, democracy and the rule of law in the country.
Haiti remains firmly on the agenda of the EU. The EU’s support is aimed to both strengthen Haiti’s institutional capacity and facilitate the access to basic public services to the population in the very insecure and volatile context. The EU support entails macroeconomic assistance as well as assistance to education, food security and nutrition, disaster preparedness, protection and stability, including to the Haitian National Police.
The European Union is a long-standing political and development partner of Haiti and will continue to play its part alongside other regional partners, to help face the dire situation, including humanitarian crisis in the country.
