Following the conclusion of the 50th session on Pandemic and Authoritarianism, held at the University of São Paulo’s law faculty, the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT) issued a judgment recognizing President Jair Messias Bolsonaro liable for crimes against humanity, and for resulting in the deaths of thousands of people as a consequence of Covid-19 prevention policies. Specifically, the PPT found that the rejection of the Covid-19 pandemic policy of isolation, distancing, prevention, and vaccination led thousands of people to their deaths, especially those belonging to the most vulnerable groups in Brazilian society, namely indigenous peoples, black people, and quilombolas communities. The Tribunal argued that “contrary to the unanimous position of scientists around the world and WHO recommendations, Bolsonaro not only ensured that the Brazilian population did not adopt the planned measures to limit the infection but repeatedly created various obstacles to them, frustrating his own government’s attempts to establish policies to protect the population from the virus.” (Judgment, p. 16). The Tribunal further noted that these crimes took place in the more general context of a specific and severely discriminatory policy directed against indigenous peoples, blacks, and quilombolas such to constitute direct criminal liability for gross violation of human rights. In the specific case of indigenous peoples, the Tribunal considered that the situation of repression of their right to life coincides with a process of progressive genocide, drop by drop, such that it necessitated an urgent and direct response by the International Criminal Court as the legal body directly competent.
- Indictment: English – Portuguese
- Text of the judgment: Portuguese
