A group of climate lawyers has urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro for his alleged attacks on the Amazon, which they say amount to “crimes against humanity.”
Austrian not-for-profit AllRise filed a landmark complaint at the court in the Dutch city of The Hague on Tuesday. It argues that the actions of Bolsonaro and his administration are a “widespread attack on the Amazon, its dependents and its defenders that not only result in the persecution, murder and inhumane suffering in the region, but also upon the global population,” the group said in a statement.
The 286-page filing said there were grounds for “an urgent and thorough ICC investigation and prosecution.”
It cites “the ongoing widespread attack on the Brazilian Legal Amazon and on its Environmental Dependents and Defenders contrary to Article 7 and Article 25(3)(c) of the Rome Statute.”
“This attack, and the multiple crimes that have occurred under its aegis — which include but are not limited to murder … persecution … and other inhumane acts of a similar character … — necessitate an urgent and thorough ICC investigation and prosecution,” reads the filing.
As well as arguing that crimes against humanity have been committed against individuals who depend on and work to protect the rainforest, the petition says Bolsonaro holds responsibility for future suffering that will happen as a result of his Amazon policies.
“Climate science demonstrates that consequent fatalities, devastation and insecurity will occur on a far greater scale regionally and globally, long into the future, through the attributable links between the rapid acceleration in deforestation, its contribution to climate change, and the frequency and intensification of extreme weather events,” reads the filing.
