The Destruction of the Amazon Rainforest: The Need to Recognize Ecocide as an International Crime Under the Rome Statute
By Margaret Marshall
Since his ascent into power in 2019, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has implemented countless laws and regulations that have devastated the Amazon Rainforest, as well as the Indigenous communities that call that land home.[1] Days after he took office, Bolsonaro “transferred the responsibility for demarcating native land from the government’s indigenous affairs agency, Funai to the ministry of agriculture.”[2] In addition, Bolsonaro has promoted harmful extractive industries, allowing these industries to completely decimate areas under Indigenous control and destroy the land’s biodiversity.[3] When Indigenous people and activists have fought back and stood in the way of industry, they have been met with violence and some have even been murdered, with five killed in a six month span.[4] Because of this, in late January 2021, two of Brazil’s most influential Indigenous leaders sued Bolsonaro for crimes against humanity.[5] The two leaders, Chief Raoni Metuktire of the Kayapo and Chief Almir Narayamoga Surui of the Paiter Surui, filed the suit at the International Criminal Court (“ICC”), pointing to a myriad of crimes the President of Brazil had committed.[6] Among these claims, is the “rising levels of deforestation in the Amazon, increased killings of Brazilian Indigenous leaders, and Bolsonaro government’s efforts to strip protections from the rainforest and tribal lands . . .”[7] So, not only are the Indigenous leaders putting forth the claim that President Bolsonaro has committed crimes against humanity through the destruction of their people, but the Indigenous leaders made another claim.[8] This claim was one that that took the international community by surprise and one that could leave a lasting impact on not only Brazil, but the rest of the world—the Indigenous people claimed that Bolsonaro had committed acts of ecocide.[9]
Ecocide is defined as “mass damage and destruction of ecosystems—harm to nature which is widespread, severe or systematic.”[10] Ecocide is believed to have been conceptualized after the horrific environmental tragedy in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, where the United States sprayed over 19 million gallons of herbicides, including the infamous Agent Orange, across these three countries during the Vietnam War.[11] The result of this attack, was the contamination of an estimated three million people, who suffered from cancer, neurological diseases, birth defects, and other adverse health issues.[12] Years later, in 1970, Yale biologist Arthur Galston noted this barbaric act by the United States was an act of ecocide and called for the international community to recognize and put a stop to it.[13] Today, despite the efforts of Galston and so many others, ecocide is still not “recognize[d] as prosecutable under international law,” and, more specifically, under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.[14] The Rome Statute, right now, holds that four crimes are subject to criminal prosecution by the ICC : genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and crimes of aggression.[15] If a country is found to have violated any of these crimes, not only could they be prosecuted, but those held responsible could actually be arrested.[16]
There are two primary suggestions in the international community for catapulting ecocide to international crime status.[17] Some in the international community, which include high-ranking individuals such as Pope Francis and French President Marcon, have advocated for the Rome Statute to be amended to include ecocide as a fifth crime, to join the ranks of criminal acts such as genocide and war crimes.[18] Still others argue that the best approach to making ecocide an internationally recognized criminal activity, is not to make it a separate crime, but rather to include it within the definition of crimes against humanity.[19] This is the approach that William Bourdon, the French lawyer who is representing the Brazilian Indigenous leaders is taking with the lawsuit against President Bolsonaro.[20] The argument is, that under Article 7 of the Rome Statute, crimes against humanity include any “widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population.”[21] It is the belief of Bourdon, as well as many other in the international community, that Bolsonaro’s actions amount to crimes against humanity, through the “over-exploitation of the country and stealing natural resources from the Amazon rainforest,” which could be considered a direct attack against the Indigenous population that depends on these lands and its resources.[22] Ultimately, Bourdon and the Indigenous leaders hope that the ICC will hear this case against President Bolsonaro, and that this will “open the door for the recognition of ecocide in the context of international law and for the ICC to fight environmental crime.”[23]
Currently, the Indigenous people of Brazil are awaiting the decision of the ICC on whether the court wants to proceed with a formal investigation against President Bolsonaro for crimes against humanity and ecocide.[24] This case is a heartbreaking testament of the desperate need to qualify ecocide as an international crime under the Rome Statute. Whether it be through making it its own separate crime, akin to genocide, or extending the definition of crimes against humanity to include ecocide, something must be done. The Indigenous people of Brazil must wait to see whether Bolsonaro will be punished for his acts of ecocide and the world must now wait to see if this case will open the door for ecocide to finally be recognized for what it is—a criminal act.
[1] Mara Budgen, Indigenous Leaders Want the ICC to Try Bolsonaro for Crimes Against Humanity, Lifegate (Mar. 21, 2021), https://www.lifegate.com/bolsonaro-crimes-against-humanity-icc-interview.
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Brazil: Amazon Land Defender Zezico Guajajara Shot Dead, BBC News (Apr. 2, 2021), https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-52135362.
[5] Travis Waldron, Brazil’s Indigenous Leaders Sue President Jair Bolsonaro For Crimes Against Humanity, HuffPost (Jan. 23, 2021), https://www.huffpost.com/entry/brazil-jair-bolsonaro-amazon-rainforest-crimes-against-humanity_n_600af412c5b6f401aea3e2f7.
[6] Id.
[7] Id.
[8] Id.
[9] Id.
[10] What is Ecocide?, Stop Ecocide, https://www.stopecocide.earth/what-is-ecocide (last visited Apr. 7, 2021).
[11] Nicholas Kusnetz et al., ‘Ecocide’ Movement Pushes for a New International Crime: Environmental Destruction, NBC News ( Apr. 7, 2021), https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/ecocide-movement-pushes-new-international-crime-environmental-destruction-n1263142.
[12] Id.
[13] Id.
[14] See Waldron, supra note 5.
[15] Making Ecocide a Crime, Stop Ecocide, https://www.stopecocide.earth/making-ecocide-a-crime (last visited Apr. 7, 2021).
[16] Id.
[17] See Budgen, supra note 1.
[18] See Kusnetz, supra note 11.
[19] See Budgen, supra note 1.
[20] Id.
[21] Id.
[22] Id.
[23] Id.