Brazil’s indigenous leaders and human rights groups are calling an international court to prosecute the country’s president for crimes against humanity for removing environmental safeguards in the Amazon rainforest.
William Bourdon, a Paris-based lawyer, filed a preliminary investigation request by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to the International Criminal Court in The Hague on Friday, according to reports.
“It is a matter of great urgency,” Bourdon told The Guardian. “We are racing against the clock, considering the devastation of the Amazon.”
Since Bolsonaro took office in 2019, deforestation has increased by almost 50% in the Amazon region, which covers a large area of Brazil, and invasions of native territories by miners and farmers have increased by 135%, according to a Brazilian environmentalist report.
Bourdon wants to see Bolsonaro judged for “ecocide”, which refers to causing long-term damage to the environment and indigenous peoples. The lawyer filed a 68-page complaint on behalf of indigenous leaders Almir Suruí and Raoni Metuktire.