Reading Room Document

Provisions of the Special Foreign Assistance Act of 1986Relative to the Assets of Jean Claude Duvalier

Section 204 of the Special Foreign Assistance Act of 1986 requires the President to freeze or otherwise prevent the dissipation of assets, allegedly stolen by the former president of Haiti, that are the subject of litigation to determine their ownership. The President is not required to freeze assets that are not the subject of litigation by the government of Haiti. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/file/23901/download.

January 2, 1987