Two top Brazilian indigenous leaders have asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate President Jair Bolsonaro for “crimes against humanity”, accusing him of unprecedented environmental damage, killings and persecution.
Chief Raoni Metuktire, the leader of the Kayapo people, and Chief Almir Narayamoga Surui, leader of the Paiter Surui tribe, filed the claim at The Hague-based body on Friday.
Since Bolsonaro became president in January 2019, “the destruction of the Amazonian forest has accelerated without measure,” said the complaint to the ICC, reported by France’s Le Monde newspaper on Saturday.
It said deforestation had rocketed “by 34.5 percent in a year, the assassination of indigenous leaders is at an 11-year high and environmental agencies have collapsed or faced threats.”
The two leaders said killings, the forced transfers of local peoples and persecution constituted “crimes against humanity.”
Bolsonaro’s government has proposed legislation that would relax…
