Brazilian indigenous group APIB files criminal charges against President Bolsonaro before ICC

[Judi Lynn]

Tuesday, August 10th 2021 - 07:49 UTC

Indigenous lawyers have filed genocide charges against Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro before the International Criminal Court (ICC) based in The Hague, it was announced Monday.

Marking the International Day of the Indigenous Peoples, the legal team headed by Counselor Luiz Eloy Terena among others seek to hold Bolsonaro accountable for the death of 1,162 indigenous people from 163 indigenous communities in that country.

The 148-page complaint was drafted by a team of seven lawyers from the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), a group representing some 900,000 native Brazilians. The 33-year-old Terena stems from a village on the border with Paraguay.

According to the newspaper O Globo, the plaintiffs have maintained that “What we experienced during the administration of President Bolsonaro was an explicit refusal to demarcate new lands.” They also pointed out that “at the same time, bills, decrees and ordinances tried to legalize illegal activities in indigenous territories, which left us without legal protection.”

The evidence of a crime against humanity, against the planet and the environment consists of a series of decisions and decrees which have caused harm to the indigenous communities since the beginning of Bolsonaro's term and throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the complaint, the president's arbitrary policy has led to land invasions, attacks, deforestation and other illegal activities.

More:
https://en.mercopress.com/2021/08/10/brazilian-indigenous-group-apib-files-criminal-charges-against-president-bolsonaro-before-icc