Brasil-Crimes Against Humanity

 

BRAZIL

Nature’s Killer

Brazilian Indigenous leaders and human rights groups asked the International Criminal Court over the weekend to investigate President Jair Bolsonaro for crimes against humanity, the Guardian reported.

The plaintiffs’ lawyers filed a request at the Netherlands-based court over Bolsonaro’s dismantling of environmental policies and violations of Indigenous rights, which they say amount to ecocide.

Since Bolsonaro took power in 2019, vast areas of Brazil’s Amazon rainforest have been destroyed and traditional communities threatened: Deforestation increased by nearly 50 percent in two years, while invasions of Indigenous territories rose 135 percent in 2019.

This year, Bolsonaro’s administration has also cut the budget to enforce environmental protections by more than 27 percent.

Activists and scientists fear that the far-right president’s policies could damage the rainforest to a point of no return and make it impossible to control climate change in the future.

Bolsonaro’s environmental policies and his handling of the coronavirus pandemic have caused his popularity to plummet in recent months.

One poll from the Brazil-based Datafolha found that 40 percent of respondents rated his administration as bad or terrible, according to Reuters.

However, another poll found more than 50 percent were against him being impeached.