The People’s Court must convict Bolsonaro for managing the pandemic

A draft ruling by the Permanent Peoples’ Court indicates this Jair Bolsonaro They will be found guilty of serious human rights violations and, in some cases, facts that could amount to crimes against humanity.

When dealing with the issue of the COVID-19 pandemic, the decision could increase international pressure on Bolsonaro. The international body, established in the 1970s, does not have the weight of the ICC or the ability to take action against a state or head of government. But the final condemnation is seen by civil society groups, former ministers and rights advocates as an important seal to put pressure on the Planalto Palace and expose Bolsonaro to the world.

After a hearing and an exchange of information over the past few months, the court set a reading of its decision for Thursday, September 1. A meeting between the judges is scheduled the day before, on Wednesday, so that the sledgehammer can be struck at the verdict.

Three different judicial sources in Europe confirmed that the first draft of the decision had already been prepared. But the process still involves a meeting on Wednesday so that all the justices can present their arguments and vote.

Faced with an unprecedented administration, the judges had to decide what to do with Bolsonaro. Inside the court, there is no doubt that he will be found guilty. But the debate is about how it fits.

to me UOL It found, that the draft to be presented to other judges referred to “serious violations of human rights” and, on some occasions, acts that could amount to crimes against humanity.

There is, at least for the time being, no indication that Bolsonaro’s crimes should be considered genocide. Although the option was left out of the draft, the concept can still be discussed again. Some members of the Court maintain a favorable position to also consider this classification of crime.

The complaint against Bolsonaro was filed by the Commission for the Defense of Human Rights, Dom Paulo Evaristo Arens, the International Public Services Organization, the Indigenous Peoples’ Joint in Brazil, and the Black Coalition for Rights.

The groups accused Bolsonaro of “in using his attributes, he deliberately spread the covid-19 epidemic in Brazil, which resulted in the avoidable death and disease of thousands of people, in the perspective of an authoritarian escalation that seeks to suppress rights and undermine democracy, especially for indigenous people, black populations and health professionals, which increases of weaknesses and inequality in access to public services and in ensuring human rights.”

The prosecution was led by attorneys Eloisa Machado de Almeida, Sheila de Carvalho and Mauricio Terena.

The complaint focused on establishing the existence of a practice of incitement to genocide, particularly against indigenous peoples and the black movement.

What is the court

Headquartered in Rome, Italy, and defined as an international court of opinion, the Trans-Pacific Partnership is dedicated to determining where, when, and how the fundamental rights of peoples and individuals are violated. Within his powers, he establishes processes that examine the causal links of violations and convict the perpetrators of crimes before international public opinion.

Although it is a court of opinion, the provisions of which are not necessarily enforced by the formal justice systems of the state, the provisions of the TPP are relevant. It refers to the recognition of crimes and the duties of reparation and justice that otherwise would not be considered by formal legal systems.

Another of its functions is to support criminal proceedings, where it acts as an aid to the drafting of international laws and treaties with the aim of preventing the recurrence of crimes.

One example of its importance refers to the session on Argentina, in the 1980s, when the first list of the politically disappeared under the country’s military regime was presented.

The Court was established in November 1966 and held in two sessions in Sweden and Denmark, organized by the British philosopher Bertrand Russell, with the mediation of the French writer and philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre and the participation of intellectuals of the stature of the Italians. Politician Lilio Basso, writer Simone de Beauvoir, American activist Ralph Scheunemann and Argentine writer Julio Cortázar. At the time, the court investigated crimes committed in the US military intervention in Vietnam.

In the following years, similar tribunals were set up on the same model, to investigate topics such as human rights violations in the dictatorships of Argentina and Brazil (Rome, 1973), the military coup in Chile (Rome, 1974-1976), the human rights issue in psychiatry (Berlin, 2001) and the wars in Iraq (Brussels, 2004), in Palestine (Barcelona, ​​2009-2012), eastern Ukraine (Venice, 2014).

This is not the first time the court has dealt with Brazil in the democratic period.

In 1989, he held a hearing dedicated to the issue of impunity for crimes against humanity in Latin America. At that moment, he highlighted the failure to punish those responsible for the abuses committed during the Brazilian military dictatorship and the denial of the right to collective memory as a condition for avoiding new forms of tyranny.

The situation of children and adolescents in Brazilian society and the issue of prisons in the country were topics discussed in 1991. A session in the Amazon region, the following year, demonstrated the tragic distance between reality and the rights advocated by the 1988 Charter, in the administration. of the territory and in guarantees of autonomy for the local peoples.

And last year, at its forty-ninth session, the court received complaints of environmental genocide and violations of the rights of the Brazilian Cerrado peoples. However, the ruling has not yet been released.

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