"Spain ponders rights for all the great apes"

What about the rights of people with disabilities?
Mike

Spain ponders rights for all the great apes
By David Rennie
LONDON DAILY TELEGRAPH
Published June 10, 2006

BRUSSELS -- Spain could soon become the first country in the world to
give chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans and other great apes some of the
fundamental rights granted to human beings with a law being proposed by
members of the ruling Socialist coalition.
The law would eliminate the concept of "ownership" for great apes,
instead placing them under the "moral guardianship" of the state, much
as is the case for children in care, the severely handicapped and those
in comas, said the lawmaker behind the project, Francisco Garrido.
Great apes held in Spanish zoos would be moved to state-built
sanctuaries, unless there was a risk that moving them would harm their
emotional welfare, he said.
The law would also make it a criminal offense to mistreat or kill a
great ape, except in cases of self-defense or medical euthanasia. As a
first step, Mr. Garrido, a Green member from Seville who sits with the
Socialists, will propose a resolution on the rights of great apes
before parliament's environment committee at the end of this month. He
expects the committee to approve the resolution, which already has
received the public support of ministers.
Mr. Garrido said he was confident that either the government, or
the ruling Socialist majority, would introduce a Great Apes Law after
the summer recess.
The Roman Catholic Church has expressed concerns about his
resolution.
The archbishop of Pamplona and Tudela, Fernando Sebastian, has said
that only a "ridiculous or distorted society" could propose such a law.

"We don't give rights to some people -- such as unborn children,
human embryos, and we are going to give them to apes," the archbishop
said.
Amnesty International's Spanish branch has also expressed concerns,
saying that humans have yet to see their rights fully guaranteed. A
senior member of the Spanish opposition Partido Popular, Arturo
Esteban, called the proposal an "act of moral poverty."
The proposal has been front page news since parliament heard
testimony from members of the Great Ape Project (GAP), a Seattle-based
activist group that campaigns for the creation of a "community of
equals" in which humans, chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans
would all have three fundamental rights: the right to life, to freedom,
and to protection from torture.
Their "declaration" calls for great apes to be kept locked up only
when they are a threat to the community, and then only with a right of
appeal to the courts, with representation by a lawyer.
Mr. Garrido's parliamentary resolution would explicitly endorse the
approach of the GAP, and would call on the state to use its voting
membership of international forums and organizations to protect great
apes from "mistreatment, slavery, death and extinction."
Pedro Pozas, the secretary-general of the Spanish branch of the
GAP, said animals reared in captivity might remain in zoos, even after
the law's passage, "provided that they are kept in good conditions,
with a habitat adapted to their conditions and needs."
Mr. Pozas criticized the trade and exchange of apes among zoos and
breeding centers. "To move a baby ape is to split up a family. They
have feelings, they can feel sad, and they have the capacity for love.
If a zoo has no room for new births, it would be better to sterilize
the females."
In 1999, New Zealand passed an animal welfare act stating that
research, testing or teaching involving the use of a great ape requires
government approval, and a finding that "any likely benefits are not
outweighed by harm to the great ape." Britain has also banned medical
experimentation on great apes.

yared22311.RemoveThis@yahoo.com wrote:
> What about the rights of people with disabilities?
> Mike
>
> Spain ponders rights for all the great apes
> By David Rennie
> LONDON DAILY TELEGRAPH
> Published June 10, 2006
>
> BRUSSELS -- Spain could soon become the first country in the world to
> give chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans and other great apes some of the
> fundamental rights granted to human beings with a law being proposed by
> members of the ruling Socialist coalition.
> The law would eliminate the concept of "ownership" for great apes,
> instead placing them under the "moral guardianship" of the state, much
> as is the case for children in care, the severely handicapped and those
> in comas, said the lawmaker behind the project, Francisco Garrido.
> Great apes held in Spanish zoos would be moved to state-built
> sanctuaries, unless there was a risk that moving them would harm their
> emotional welfare, he said.
> The law would also make it a criminal offense to mistreat or kill a
> great ape, except in cases of self-defense or medical euthanasia. As a
> first step, Mr. Garrido, a Green member from Seville who sits with the
> Socialists, will propose a resolution on the rights of great apes
> before parliament's environment committee at the end of this month. He
> expects the committee to approve the resolution, which already has
> received the public support of ministers.
> Mr. Garrido said he was confident that either the government, or
> the ruling Socialist majority, would introduce a Great Apes Law after
> the summer recess.
> The Roman Catholic Church has expressed concerns about his
> resolution.
> The archbishop of Pamplona and Tudela, Fernando Sebastian, has said
> that only a "ridiculous or distorted society" could propose such a law.
>
> "We don't give rights to some people -- such as unborn children,
> human embryos, and we are going to give them to apes," the archbishop
> said.
> Amnesty International's Spanish branch has also expressed concerns,
> saying that humans have yet to see their rights fully guaranteed. A
> senior member of the Spanish opposition Partido Popular, Arturo
> Esteban, called the proposal an "act of moral poverty."
> The proposal has been front page news since parliament heard
> testimony from members of the Great Ape Project (GAP), a Seattle-based
> activist group that campaigns for the creation of a "community of
> equals" in which humans, chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans
> would all have three fundamental rights: the right to life, to freedom,
> and to protection from torture.
> Their "declaration" calls for great apes to be kept locked up only
> when they are a threat to the community, and then only with a right of
> appeal to the courts, with representation by a lawyer.
> Mr. Garrido's parliamentary resolution would explicitly endorse the
> approach of the GAP, and would call on the state to use its voting
> membership of international forums and organizations to protect great
> apes from "mistreatment, slavery, death and extinction."
> Pedro Pozas, the secretary-general of the Spanish branch of the
> GAP, said animals reared in captivity might remain in zoos, even after
> the law's passage, "provided that they are kept in good conditions,
> with a habitat adapted to their conditions and needs."
> Mr. Pozas criticized the trade and exchange of apes among zoos and
> breeding centers. "To move a baby ape is to split up a family. They
> have feelings, they can feel sad, and they have the capacity for love.
> If a zoo has no room for new births, it would be better to sterilize
> the females."
> In 1999, New Zealand passed an animal welfare act stating that
> research, testing or teaching involving the use of a great ape requires
> government approval, and a finding that "any likely benefits are not
> outweighed by harm to the great ape." Britain has also banned medical
> experimentation on great apes.
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What about the disabled? What's the connection?
There isn't any; animals and people can have "rights."

clinical medical research will help the disabled; vivisection
of any animal will not, never has, never will.

comprendez vous, Mikey?