Brazilian indigenous leaders and human rights groups are appealing to an international court to prosecute the country’s president for crimes against humanity for removing environmental protection in the Amazon rainforest.
According to reports, William Bourdon, a lawyer in Paris, on Friday submitted a request for a preliminary investigation by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
“This is a very urgent matter,” Bourdon told The Guardian. “We are running counterclockwise considering the devastation of the Amazon.”
Since Bolsonaro took office in 2019, deforestation has risen by nearly 50 percent in the Amazon region, which covers much of Brazil, and the invasions of indigenous areas by feral cat workers and farmers have, according to a Brazilian environment with 135 percent increased. report.
Bourdon wants to see Bolsonaro try an ‘ecocide’, which refers to long-term damage to the environment and indigenous people. The lawyer filed the 68-page complaint on behalf of indigenous leaders Almir Surui and Raoni Metuktire.