Brazilian Health Workers Urge ICC To Investigate Bolsonaro's Government For Failed COVID-19 Response

A group of unions representing Brazil's healthcare workers and professionals has lodged a complaint to the International Criminal Court (ICC) seeking that a probe must be conducted against President Jair Bolsonaro's government.

According to a report, the group submitted the complaint citing that Bolsonaro's government has been "criminally negligent" in the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic that ravaged the country's peoples for months and that it has needlessly risked the lives of its health workers who are also members of the Brazilian society deserving of the country's protection.

Historically, the unions agreed that the said case will have been the first of its kind to be filed against a country's own government for "large-scale death and illness" due to public health negligence.

Constituted in 2002 at The Hague, Netherlands, the union's mission has been to ensure that justice is served for the world's worst crimes such as but not limited to war crimes, crimes concerning humanity and genocide.

Brazil has registered at least 2.44 million infections and more than 87,000 COVID-related deaths with hospitals and health workers overwhelmed by the surge of patients coming from different parts of the country daily.

After downplaying the pandemic and calling it "a little flu," the President himself tested positive for COVID-19 on July 7. He had been under semi-quarantine in his own residence but he had insisted to work remotely and made sure he was still able to attend virtual conferences online.

On Saturday, he announced that he is now negative after taking a more recent test for the infection and has said that he used an anti-malarial drug called hydroxychloroquine. However, the said drug has not shown any proof of effectiveness against the novel coronavirus disease.

Outside his residence in Brasilia, Bolsonaro removed his mask in public and greeted supporters who congratulated him for finally testing negative.

Experts have expressed frustrations with how Bolsonaro has dealt with the country's crisis in the past few months citing that there is a lack of a unified action towards facing the pandemic as officials across the country had differing approaches.

Marcio Monzane who is the Regional Secretary of the UNI Americas - the union that led the said probe against the country's failed response to the pandemic - described Bolsonaro's government response to the pandemic as a "callous" one and as such, they "should be held accountable" for its unwanted consequences.

He added that the move to seek the help of the ICC has been a brave but drastic measure taken to alleviate the current situation being faced by his countrymen.