The promotion of chloroquine played a significant role in the genocide charges against Bolsonaro in The Hague.

Sputnik - More than 50 organizations from Brazil and abroad have filed a complaint against President Jair Bolsonaro (no party affiliation) with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, regarding his choices during the coronavirus pandemic.

The complaint alleges that "there is evidence that Bolsonaro committed crimes against humanity during his handling of the pandemic, by adopting negligent and irresponsible actions that contributed to the more than 80 deaths from the disease in the country."

The Court receives more than 800 complaints a year and decides on them after months, so the claim filed by the Brazilians may not proceed, but it represents international damage to the Bolsonaro administration, reports UOL in an article about the episode. 

According to the petition, signed by a coalition representing over one million healthcare workers in Brazil, the Ministry of Health "lost technicians with decades of experience in the SUS (Unified Health System) and appointed military personnel to strategic positions." The text states that the interim Minister of Health, General Eduardo Pazuello, "abandoned the defense of stricter social distancing and began recommending treatments for COVID-19 without the approval of medical and scientific entities, such as the use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine."

In an interview with Sputnik Brazil, Célia Costa, leader of the Public Health Workers Union (SindiSaúde-SP), points out that the President of the Republic chose to be "a poster boy for a drug that may have taken many lives," referring to chloroquine.

"We decided to file this complaint against President Jair Bolsonaro because of the actions he has taken since the beginning of the pandemic. The World Health Organization had been warning about the pandemic since December, and President Jair Bolsonaro, unfortunately, treated the pandemic as a minor flu, and today we have the result of more than 86 lives lost," says Costa. "We hope that the Court will treat this matter as it should be treated, as genocide."

Supreme Court and the future of the complaint.

This is not the first time that the Federal Government's actions during the global pandemic have been associated with genocide. Minister Gilmar Mendes, of the Supreme Federal Court (STF), stated that the occupation of positions in the Ministry of Health by military personnel during the pandemic is "unacceptable."

"It needs to be said very clearly: the Army is associating itself with this genocide, it's not reasonable," the magistrate said during the debate. 

Mendes' statement drew criticism from Vice President Hamilton Mourão (PRTB), who said the minister should apologize. 

Healthcare professionals examine a patient with COVID-19 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Acácio Miranda, a master in International Criminal Law, says that the International Criminal Court has jurisdiction to judge four different types of crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and crimes of aggression.

"The process before the International Criminal Court has two formal stages: one stage involves an investigation, and consequently, an admissibility assessment is made, and, if the complaint is admitted, it is submitted to the full court for judgment by the 18 judges who make up the International Criminal Court. However, before these two stages, there is a preliminary assessment to determine if there are sufficient elements to initiate an investigation," Miranda tells Sputnik Brazil.