Spain to grant some human rights to apes

Spain’s parliament approved a measure Wednesday to extend some human rights to gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, and orangutans, becoming the first country to explicitly acknowledge the legal rights of nonhumans.

The parliament’s environmental committee approved a resolution that commits the country to the Declaration on Great Apes, which states that nonhuman apes are entitled to the rights of life, liberty, and protection from torture.

The declaration, developed in 1993 by a group of primatologists, ethicists, and psychologists known as the Great Ape Project, demands “the extension of the community of equals to include all great apes.” According to the declaration, apes may not be killed except under “strictly defined circumstances,” such as self-defense. They may not be imprisoned without due legal process, and they may not be subjected to the “deliberate infliction of severe pain,” even if doing so is said to benefit others.

Reuters reports that the resolution is expected to become law, and will likely take effect within one year. The news agency spells out what this means for Spain’s population of nonhuman apes.

Keeping apes for circuses, television commercials or filming will also be forbidden and breaking the new laws will become an offence under Spain’s penal code.

Keeping an estimated 315 apes in Spanish zoos will not be illegal, but supporters of the bill say conditions will need to improve drastically in 70 percent of establishments to comply with the new law.

The Times of London notes that the resolution could be the beginning of a trend toward granting similar rights to other nonhuman animals:

Spain’s conservative Popular Party also complained that the resolution sought to give animals the same rights as humans – something that the Socialist Government denies. Some critics questioned why Spain should afford legal protection from death or torture to great apes but not bulls. But Mr Pozas said that the vote would set a precedent, establishing legal rights for animals that could be extended to other species. “We are seeking to break the species barrier – we are just the point of the spear,” he said.

Spain’s resolution is regarded as a landmark move against “speciesism,” or human exeptionalism, but other countries have taken steps in recent years toward recognizing nonhuman apes as moral persons who possess an inherent worth and dignity.

In 2002, Germany’s parliament voted to add the phrase “and animals” to a clause in the country’s constitution requiring the state to uphold the dignity of humans. In 1992, Switzerland passed an amendment to its constitution that recognized animals as “beings,” and not “things.”

Last year, the parliament of Spain’s Balearic Islands endorsed the Declaration on Great Apes.


http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2008/06/27/spain-to-grant-some-human-rights-to-apes/[i][/i]

And we are yet to extend ours to other humans in Nigeria.

do these apes have more rights than illegal immigrants over there in Spain?

do these apes have more rights than illegal immigrants over there in Spain?

Yes, yes and yes.

okay, now they are pushing it.

okay, now they are pushing it.

It's an indirect way of them telling you to stay home.

madness oooh

this world don end

madness oooh

this world don end

Very soon, they'll also extend marriage rights to them.

Some critics questioned why Spain should afford legal protection from death or torture to great apes but not bulls

nice to know they still have a couple of people with a little sense.


I'm sure the bulls Spain tortures inhumanely every year, also need this kind of protection they're extending to their ape brothers.

Primates are the closest form in evolution to humans hence the extension of rights to them - bulls and other mammals and finally all animals would be given the same rights over time. Extending to Primates is the next logical step.

Let them just keep this mumbo jumbo to themselves, If anyone ever legislates that I can't eat meat or chicken because of their 'human' rights, then they are in trouble.

Let them just keep this mumbo jumbo to themselves, If anyone ever legislates that I can't eat meat or chicken because of their 'human' rights, then they are in trouble.

Stop eating monkeys please, they have equal rights like you do!!!!

Btw,
Ain't you guys in Nigeria ashamed that Spain has solved the female rights issue and moved on to other primates when you guys are yet to see women as equal mortals?

who lied to you? women are equal mortals in most parts of Nigeria. . .all parts actually according to the law.

Female rights issue indeed; when a female legislator can slap a male one, what more rights are you people looking for? The right to have joysticks?

Female rights issue indeed; when a female legislator can slap a male one, what more rights are you people looking for? The right to have joysticks?

The right to slap men freely and lock them in jail while being protected by the cops.

women are equal mortals in most parts of Nigeriaall parts actually according to the law

Which part?

All parts!

heck in the North they even have more rights - men are allowed to suffer and die on motorbikes while women must get the use of taxis first.

you want the right to slap men indiscriminately and be protected by the cops? Sorry darling, your BDSM fantasies cannot become a way of life here.

back to topic

Apes deserve 'rights' - to be protected so as to preserve biodiversity and learning, but not much else.

1000% support!

Apes definitely have rights!!!

All parts! Cheesy

heck in the North they even have more rights - men are allowed to suffer and die on motorbikes while women must get the use of taxis first.

Women using the taxi first is courtesy and not rights and that's not our problem because we have more than that in our basket. You are selling us short before the world please because you and I know that women using taxi first is one of the privileges accorded to the feminine gender by God and society. It's like that everywhere in the world(except G8 nations).

'some' human rights, not all.

There's nothing wrong with this law. Apes are primates like humans and they can definitely feel pain.

@Texazz, eyaaahh

My dogs feel pain, abeg they need Human rights ooh!
afterall they are mammals like us

Maybe the Spaniards have this Memim Pingiin character in mind?

http://www.kvue.com/news/state/stories/070808kvuememinpinguin-eh.356f6ca9.html

My dogs feel pain, abeg they need Human rights ooh!
afterall they are mammals like us

take your damn dog to calabar or ondo dog shelter for further help. Don't be annoyed if they euthenize it without informing you.

Is this the same Spain that revels in the sadistic sport of bull-fighting?

lol