Great Apes May Get Human Rights Soon
Not long ago I wrote a blog about H.R. 5852 (The Great Ape Protection Act) to protect our closest DNA relative from both mental and physical pain of suffering. Well, an article in USA Today stated that in Europe, apes could receive some of the same rights as humans very soon.
The article stated, “A Spanish parliamentary committee adopted resolutions last month that would give great apes, such as chimpanzees and gorillas, the right to life, freedom from arbitrary captivity and protection from torture.” It’s expected to be approved next year.
A specific court case in Austria is poised to go further and declare a chimp a person so that it can have a legal guardian and funds for upkeep. The European Court of Human Rights is considering this appeal for Matthew Hiasl Pan, a 28-year old chimp.
The only major legal argument against this is that it may conflict with a human’s rights somewhere down the line.
Spain’s legislation, however, stresses that this is about the basic rights not to be arbitrarily mistreated and killed. It would also “outlaw using great apes in experiments, circuses, TV commercials or films. Apes could be kept in zoos, but conditions would be improved.”
The case in Austria hinges on Matthew, who has always been treated as a human. He has lived in a Vienna shelter for 25 years and it’s going bankrupt. If Matthew has no place to live, he could simply be killed even though donors have pledged money for him, not the bankruptcy. A British animal rights activist who has worked with Matthew for 10 years will be his guardian.
The case wants about 4 out of the 50 human rights enjoyed by Europeans bestowed upon the animal as follows: the right to life, limited freedom of movement, personal safety, the right to claim property, and to a legal guardian.
This issue is being blown out of proportion as if Matthew’s lawyers are trying to get all human rights for a non-human animal “so he can go to college. This is about basic rights not to be killed.”
“Not to be killed” was a consideration for all living things in Bonn, Germany this year where representatives of 191 nations discussed putting a cost on saving nature. They looked into trying to make a highly profitable business out of saving forests, whales and coral reefs and to stave off extinction of the many species that will follow.
German Environment Minister, Sigmar Gabriel stated: “This conference deals with economic interests. It is critical that we assign ‘a measurable cost to the loss (of environment),’ or else we run the risk ‘of deleting data from nature’s hard drive.’” According to an article on the Mathaba News website “the initial results of a study, initiated in collaboration with the European Union, on the global costs of species and habitat loss amounts to 6 percent loss of global gross domestic product. Poor countries are the hardest-hit. The annual cost of species and habitat loss amounts to as much as half of their already modest economic strength.” So preserving biodiversity pays much bigger than destroying it.
It’s sad we have to go through all of this, put a price tag on life to give it value, when a good dose of morality/ethics that insures we have reverence and a deep abiding respect for all life that was given to us should be the norm in civilized society.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2008-07-15-chimp_N.htm
http://www.mathaba.net/0_index.shtml?x=593303