Nature & Environment

Should chimps be granted human rights ?

By T.K. Randall
April 24, 2015

Image: Common Chimpanzee at the Leipzig Zoo
Credit: Thomas Lersch / CC BY-SA 3.0 (adapted) For years animal rights activists have been attempting to put forward the notion that chimpanzees, which are often used as guinea pigs for medical experiments and drug testing, should be granted the same rights and privileges as human beings.

Now in response to a petition by the Nonhuman Rights Project a court order has been signed enabling the case of two research chimps named Hercules and Leo to be presented in the New York State Supreme Court next month.

The move had been initially celebrated as the first recognition of a chimpanzee as a legal person due to the inclusion of the writ of habeas corpus in the court order which is designed to protect human prisoners from unlawful detention.

Unfortunately however this reference was later removed by the judge.

"She crossed out writ of habeas corpus leaving us with an order to show cause," said Steven Wise, an attorney who has filed multiple lawsuits on the behalf of chimpanzees."The only entity that you can even issue an order to show cause for is a person. I think she would not have issued it if she thought there was no way chimpanzees could be considered persons."

At the hearing Wise will be attempting to argue the case for the chimpanzees to be released from the Stony Brook University research center so that they can live in a chimp sanctuary in Florida.

So far however a number of previous similar cases have failed to win success for the animals.

"To recognize personhood in nonhuman animals is to give them legal rights," said attorney Bob Kohn. "You cannot give any creature legal rights without those creatures having legal responsibility."

The hearing is set to take place in just over one month's time on May 27th.

Source: Live Science

Tags: Chimpanzee, Human Rights