"Lawyers Press International Court to Investigate a ‘Network’ Committing Crimes Against Humanity in Brazil’s Amazon", 09 November 2022

...[N]ew information filed Wednesday with the International Criminal Court suggest that the battle to protect the region and its inhabitants is far from over. 

...[H]uman rights and environmental lawyers acting on behalf of rural land users are requesting an investigation into a colossal “network” of politicians, business officials, industry lobbyists and criminal gangs for alleged crimes against humanity committed against Indigenous peoples and other traditional communities in Brazil’s portion of the Amazon. 

The lawyers’ action cites land- and water-related conflicts that involved an alleged 400 murders, 500 attempted murders, 2,200 death threats, 2,000 assaults, 80 instances of torture and 100,000 crimes against property like the razing of homes from 2011 to 2022 in Brazil’s portion of the Amazon. Most of these alleged crimes have been carried out by members of the network as part of a campaign to clear people from the forest so that resources like timber, soy, beef and minerals can be extracted, said the 35-page request to the court, based in The Hague...

The International Criminal Court’s prosecutor, Karim Khan, must now weigh whether to open an investigation...

Brazil’s Embassy in Washington and its Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to requests for comment on the lawyers’ filing...