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Spain
set to Give
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.
Source: Christian Science Monitor
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