Two of Brazils most influential and well-known Indigenous leaders filed an international legal challenge this week against the countrys leader, alleging that far-right President Jair Bolsonaros policies toward Indigenous tribes and the Amazon rainforest constitute crimes against humanity.

Chief Raoni Metuktire, the leader of the Kayapo people, and Chief Almir Narayamoga Surui, leader of the Paiter Surui tribe, filed the claim at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, on Friday.

The suit points to rising levels of deforestation in the Amazon, increased killings of Brazilian Indigenous leaders, and the Bolsonaro governments efforts to strip protections from the rainforest and tribal lands, policies the Indigenous leaders say aim to exploit the natural resources of the Amazon and undermine the rights of indigenous peoples in order to promote industry.

Rates of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon were already increasing when Bolsonaro took office in January 2019, but they have skyrocketed on his watch, and record outbreaks of fires in the region over the last two years have drawn global attention to Bolsonaros efforts to roll back environmental protections and overhaul Brazils environmental regulatory agencies. More than 2.7 million acres of the Amazon were cleared in 2020 , according to Brazilian government data, the highest total in 12 years.

A longtime human rights and environmental activist, Chief Raoni has emerged as a leader of Indigenous resistance to Bolsonaro, who tribal leaders have warned threatens their people with genocide. Raoni, who at 89 years old tested positive for COVID-19 in August (months after Indigenous leaders argued that the Bolsonaro governments lagging response to the pandemic left them especially vulnerable ), said last year that Bolsonaro was the worst president of the 24 Brazilian leaders who have served during his lifetime.

The lawsuit does not guarantee an investigation into Bolsonaro but requests that the courts prosecutors launch a probe into its claims. It will likely take weeks before the court makes a decision on whether an investigation is warranted.

If the ICC follows through, the complaint against Bolsonaro could have an impact far beyond Brazil: The lawyers behind the case say it could push widespread environmental destruction or ecocide onto the list of crimes the ICC recognizes as prosecutable under international law.

William Bourdon, the French lawyer who filed the lawsuit on Chief Raonis behalf, pointed to a long-held belief among some international legal experts that environmental destruction should be considered a crime against humanity, an argument that has intensified as the global fight against climate change becomes even more urgent. (The ICCs founding charter initially included ecocide as a crime , but it was later removed.)

Ecocide at this level of intensity has to be considered as a crime against humanity, Bourdon told HuffPost.

Even if the ICC doesnt accept that argument, the complaint asserts that Bolsonaros actions toward Brazils Indigenous tribes and the laws meant to protect them qualify as crimes against humanity.