Intent to destroy in the crime of genocide: knowledge and command of acts individually considered in genocidal context and brazilian policies during the pandemic

Abstract

Aware of the difficulty in representing and verifying the elements that constitute intent, especially regarding the crime of genocide, and amid discussions about the typical adequacy of the conduct of national leaders adopted during the Covid-19 Pandemic, we sought, in the present study, to present an alternative to existing theories for identifying the key elements of the intent to destroy, an essential element of the crime of genocide, according to the wording of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, replicated in the Rome Statute, through a dialectical method that worked on the combination of two theories proposed for the verification and characterization of intent/dollus: the Twice Twofold Structure proposed by Kai Ambos, and the Cognitive Theory of Intent proposed by Ingeborg Puppe and shared by Luís Greco, which takes the concept of will in the attributive-normative sense, in contrast to the psychological-descriptive concept adopted by traditional volitive theories, in order to demonstrate the special intent/dolus specialis required for the verification of willful conduct, the only admissible form of commission of genocide. Therefore, we have proposed a third theory, which consists of a combination of both presented theories, and, through its concepts, we have analyzed the alleged practice of genocide by national leaders regarding public policies to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, especially in the Brazilian state of Amazonas, based on the Final Report submitted by the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry on the Pandemic, on October 26, 2021, concluding the possibility of genocide commission only against indigenous people, since it was not possible to identify all requisites regarding other alleged victims.