Bolsonaro Sentenced for Genocide by Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal

This is an instance of symbolic justice that reveals the president's responsibility for the deaths caused in the country by COVID-19, particularly those of health professionals and indigenous and Afro-descendant populations.

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Argentina's former Supreme Court of Justice member, Eugenio Zaffaroni, exposed the correlation between Jair Bolsonaro's speech and the crimes against Human Rights in Brazil, the core of the accusation.

On the excessive mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic, Zaffaroni said, "it cannot be considered that this malice was eventual." There was intentionality on the part of Jair Bolsonaro behind the deaths during the pandemic, Zaffaroni said. 

The official said that Bolsonaro's decision to reject prevention, isolation, and vaccination constitutes a crime against humanity, besides having urged violence. 

According to Zaffaroni, there was evidence of genocide for the "drop by drop" massacres against the native peoples. The Argentine judge recommended that the International Criminal Court analyze the complaints in The Hague. 

The legal advisor of the Association of Indigenous Peoples, Mauricio Terena, said: "We leave here and go to The Hague; we are already in The Hague," supporting the proposal for an international accusation. 

For his part, Douglas Belchior of the Black Coalition said that in addition to being judged by the Permanent Peoples' Tribunal, Bolsonaro should also be considered at the ballot box in October, referring to the presidential elections.

"This court is trying Bolsonaro, but he must also be tried at the polls in October," Douglas Belchior in the Permanent Court of Peoples held the Brazilian president responsible for crimes against humanity.

Brazil has reported 34 429 853 infections and 683 365 deaths from COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. It is the fourth country in the world after U.S., India, and France in terms of infections, and the second in terms of deaths, after the U.S.