Foreign policy and sanctions

Executive Order 12872: Blocking Property of Persons Obstructing Democratization in Haiti

President: Bill Clinton

Blocked property of persons identified with obstruction or violence in Haiti and prohibited evasion; EO 12932 revoked the order when the elected government returned.

Status: Revoked.

Is Executive Order 12872 still in effect? No. Revoked and underlying Haiti emergency terminated by EO 12932 in 1994.

What does Executive Order 12872 do?

EO 12872 added targeted blocking authority to the Haiti emergency declared in EO 12775. It covered people determined to have obstructed specified UN measures or the Governors Island Agreement, contributed to violence, or materially supported such conduct. In a 1994 report to Congress, the President said Treasury had published a list of 41 individuals in November 1993 under this authority. That documents use of the designation power; it does not establish outcomes for Haiti. EO 12932 terminated the emergency and revoked EO 12872 in October 1994.

Administration position: The order treated obstruction of Haiti’s democratic transition and related violence as part of an existing national emergency. Individual blocking depended on executive determinations under the order.
SignedOctober 18, 1993
Lead departmentsTreasury and State
MeasureProperty blocking and anti-evasion prohibition

Before and after

Before the order

Earlier Haiti orders imposed broader government-property and transaction restrictions.

After the order

The 1993 program could target additional persons until the emergency and related orders were terminated in 1994.

Who had to do what

Agency / officeActionTiming / position
TreasuryIdentify and block covered property and issue rules or licensesDuring the emergency
StateConsult on implementationAs determinations and measures were developed
U.S. personsAvoid prohibited dealings and evasionWhile the order operated

What happened next

EO 12872 added targeted property blocking.

Treasury published a list of 41 individuals under the targeted blocking authority, as reported to Congress in 1994.

EO 12932 terminated the emergency and revoked EO 12872.