Indigenous leaders of Brazil sue Bolsonaro for 'crimes against humanity'

Two top Brazillian indigenous leaders on Friday, asked International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate President Jair Bolsonaro for 'crimes against humanity'. They have accused him of unprecedented environmental damage, killings and persecution. Chief Raoni Metuktire, the leader of the Kayapo people, and Chief Almir Narayamoga Surui, leader of the Paiter Surui tribe, filed the claim at the ICC on Friday.

Since Bolsonaro became president in January 2019, "the destruction of the Amazonian forest has accelerated without measure," said the complaint to the ICC, reported by France's Le Monde newspaper on Saturday.

The complaint said that the deforestation had increased "by 34.5 per cent in a year, the assassination of indigenous leaders is at an 11-year high and environmental agencies have collapsed or faced threats."

The two leaders said killings and forced transfer of locals and persecution amounted to "crimes against humanity".

Bolsonaro government has proposed legislation that would relax restrictions in Amazon regions on commercial mining, oil and gas extraction and agriculture.

Activists are pushing for ecocide to be added to the crimes prosecuted by the ICC, alongside genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The issue was raised by the Maldives and Vanuatu at the ICC general assembly in December 2019.

"This situation, the most dramatic in the last 10 years, is a direct result of the policies of Jair Bolsonaro", who wants to "lift all the barriers to plunder the wealth of the Amazon," the suit said, also singling out mining firms.
It said the "destruction of the Amazon forest... was a direct danger not only for Brazilians but for all humanity."

In July last year, health workers in Brazil had also urged the ICC to probe Bolsonaro for crimes against humanity over his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

A month earlier Chief Raoni had told AFP in an interview that Bolsonaro was trying to use the pandemic to eliminate indigenous people.

(With AFP inputs)