O agravamento sistemático da pandemia de COVID-19 no Brasil e o Tribunal Penal Internacional: o caso Jair Bolsonaro

Abstract

This study seeks to analyze the possibility of prosecuting the Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, before the International Criminal Court (ICC), for the response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, characterized by researchers as a “federal propagation strategy” of the vírus, and possibly indicating a deliberate aggravation of the health crisis in Brazil. In order to do so, the legal-discriptive method was adopted, as well as a hypothetical-deductive reasoning. The factual elements of this case were collected mainly from the Final Report of the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry into the Pandemic, but also from studies published by renowned journals and organizations. Thus, the provisions of the Rome Statute, which rules the Court, were analyzed, combined with the examination of International Criminal Courts judgments and the use of specialized doctrine, in order to: firstly, verify the admissibility of the case; and, secondly, to understand whether an international crime has actually taken place, such as the crime of genocide or crimes against humanity. In general, the results showed that, due to the investigations conducted nationally, the judgment of the President before the ICC would be inadmissible, in light of the principle of complementarity. However, even so, when examining the occurrence of crimes under the jurisdiction of the Court, it was concluded that: a genocide did not occur against the victims of COVID-19, in general; but it was verified the feasibility of framing the acts attributed to Bolsonaro as the crimes against humanity of extermination and “other inhuman acts”.