President Jair Bolsonaro’s government must explain to the United Nations Human Rights Committee the high mortality rate recorded today by Covid-19 in Brazil.
According to journalist Jamil Chade of the UOL portal, the document, which was sent to the Brazilian authorities on April 7, is part of an investigation that the international organization will conduct into ongoing human rights policies in the country.
One of the excerpts calls on the federal administration to “respond to reports of high death rates from Covid-19 and to describe measures that have been taken to prevent preventable deaths”.
Brazil has lost 661,960 lives and infected 30,252,618 by the virus since the pandemic began in February 2020, according to the latest bulletin from the Ministry of Health.
The UN is also asking Bolsonaro to describe the measures taken to protect vulnerable groups from the disease, such as Afro-Brazilians, pregnant women and indigenous peoples.
Also provide statistics on the mortality rates from the pathogen within these segments compared to the general population.
Portal Brasil de Fato points out that Bolsonaro’s management was publicly criticized at the time the document was presented, as UN Special Rapporteur on the right to peaceful freedom of assembly and association, Clément Voule, questioned the extinction of 650 national participatory councils.
During a visit to the South American giant on April 8, Voule warned of the negative impact of restricting popular participation in public policy debates on health, education, the environment and human rights.
Chade reminds that the UN does not penalize requests for explanations, but it is a further erosion of the international image of a president who has many difficulties in establishing a dialogue with other world leaders.
In this sense, a possible negative verdict by the committee on this issue could fuel the existing complaints at the International Criminal Court against the far-right president.
At least five indictments have been brought before that court in connection with executive branch leadership during the pandemic.
The latest was the final report of the parliamentary commission of inquiry, presented in February, assessing the government’s performance in the face of Covid-19 and accusing Bolsonaro of nine crimes, including contagion causing death and a crime against humanity.
Taken from the Latin Press