Imagine Jair Bolsonaro Standing Trial for Ecocide at The Hague
A scene from the Amazonas, a state in Brazil, on Sept. 15.Credit...Bruno Kelly/Reuters
Imagine Jair Bolsonaro Standing Trial for Ecocide at The Hague
By Ernesto Londoño for the New York Times
Sept. 21, 2019
Since August, as vast stretches of the Amazon rainforest were being reduced to ashes and outrage and calls for action intensified, a group of lawyers and activists who have been advancing a radical idea have seen a silver lining in the unfolding tragedy: One day, a few years from now, they imagined Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, being hauled to The Hague to stand trial for ecocide, a term broadly understood to mean the willful and widespread destruction of the environment, and one that, they hope, will eventually be on par with other crimes against humanity.
My Comment; I like to delve into the archive and breathe fresh air into articles that remain as relevant today as they ever were. This article from Sept 2019 for the New York Times is just such an example. The fires still burn in Brazil as the Stop Ecocide Campaign report that a panel of top international lawyers are convening with the challenging task of trying to come up with a legal definition for a new international crime of Ecocide. As a lawyer myself I was initially sceptical that a working definition could be found. But I have come round to the view that a definition must be found and could be ‘game changing’ on the long road to securing an amendment to the Rome Statute that would put every leader and every CEO around the world on notice that large scale harm to the planet is akin to large scale harm on its people. It could also be the symbol and catalyst for a broader societal cultural shift - as to what is acceptable today (with the scientific knowledge we now have) and what is not. As Jojo Mehta, Chair of Stop Ecocide Foundation. says; “We use criminal law as the line between what our culture accepts and what it doesn’t. Once you have a criminal law in place you start to change the culture.” I am supporting the campaign for a new international law of Ecocide and will be reporting on its progress.