Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro accused of crimes against humanity

And four against Jair Bolsonaro! The Austrian NGO AllRise, specializing in environmental disputes, will file a complaint for crimes against humanity with the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday. She accuses the current Brazilian president of having accelerated the deforestation of the Amazon since his election in October 2018.

“The affected world population”

The tropical forest, already affected by a historic drought, no longer plays its role of natural carbon trap, according to several recent studies. The destruction of the lungs of our planet affects the entire world population , says Johannes Wesemann, founder of this NGO. He blames the Bolsonaro administration directly for the consequences of climate change, such as heat waves or extreme flooding.

This complaint is in addition to three actions brought by Brazilians, the first to rush into the new ICC policy, presented in 2016 by Attorney General Fatou Bensouda: Environmental destruction and land grabbing will be treated as crimes against humanity.

The rainforest ‘close to the tipping point

In September 2021, at the UN summit, Jair Bolsonaro promised to end the deforestation of the Amazon in 2030 and his administration announced for this year a 5% drop in deforested areas for farming and mining. . Figures disputed by Brazilian environmentalists: illegal clearing is on the contrary on the increase in the last two months. What has been reduced, however, is the number of officers responsible for monitoring it (- 27%) and the resulting sanctions (- 42%). Most scientists believe that in 2030 it will probably be too late to save the rainforest, already close to the tipping point , this threshold from which it will no longer be able to maintain its humid ecosystem.

“Need for an immediate investigation”

There are clear and compelling grounds to believe that crimes against humanity are being committed in Brazil, which requires immediate investigation and ultimately prosecution., considers the French lawyer Maud Sarlieve, accustomed to the courts of the ICC and consulted by the NGO AllRise.

This is aimed at historical trial . And knows how to communicate. Journalists received the information on Monday, October 11, 2021, the very day of the opening of the World Biodiversity Summit in China. The objective of this Cop15 is precisely that States adopt, in the spring, measures to protect and restore nature, our best weapon against climate change.

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