The China Mail - Swiss region votes on giving primates fundamental rights

USD -
AED 3.67301
AFN 71.021929
ALL 86.757891
AMD 388.845938
ANG 1.80229
AOA 916.000148
ARS 1165.000022
AUD 1.559315
AWG 1.8025
AZN 1.70406
BAM 1.718274
BBD 2.002838
BDT 121.45998
BGN 1.72222
BHD 0.376957
BIF 2973.111879
BMD 1
BND 1.309923
BOB 6.907155
BRL 5.619799
BSD 0.999627
BTN 85.145488
BWP 13.647565
BYN 3.271381
BYR 19600
BZD 2.008021
CAD 1.382775
CDF 2877.999765
CHF 0.824198
CLF 0.024644
CLP 945.690142
CNY 7.269496
CNH 7.2656
COP 4197
CRC 505.357119
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 96.873243
CZK 21.90485
DJF 178.012449
DKK 6.56135
DOP 58.908545
DZD 132.288977
EGP 50.801298
ERN 15
ETB 133.81045
EUR 0.87892
FJD 2.256403
FKP 0.746656
GBP 0.74686
GEL 2.745039
GGP 0.746656
GHS 14.294876
GIP 0.746656
GMD 71.492633
GNF 8658.065706
GTQ 7.698728
GYD 209.76244
HKD 7.75695
HNL 25.941268
HRK 6.620396
HTG 130.799
HUF 355.319478
IDR 16646.9
ILS 3.62904
IMP 0.746656
INR 85.090398
IQD 1309.571398
IRR 42100.000211
ISK 128.410025
JEP 0.746656
JMD 158.35182
JOD 0.7092
JPY 142.663004
KES 129.349896
KGS 87.450261
KHR 4001.774662
KMF 432.250121
KPW 900.101764
KRW 1422.724972
KWD 0.30632
KYD 0.833044
KZT 511.344318
LAK 21622.072771
LBP 89567.707899
LKR 299.446072
LRD 199.931473
LSL 18.549157
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 5.468994
MAD 9.272737
MDL 17.203829
MGA 4511.41031
MKD 54.061297
MMK 2099.785163
MNT 3572.381038
MOP 7.98763
MRU 39.575655
MUR 45.229907
MVR 15.400483
MWK 1733.40069
MXN 19.553103
MYR 4.310956
MZN 64.01011
NAD 18.549157
NGN 1601.519845
NIO 36.785022
NOK 10.359235
NPR 136.237321
NZD 1.68312
OMR 0.384995
PAB 0.999613
PEN 3.664973
PGK 4.141482
PHP 55.858498
PKR 280.826287
PLN 3.75155
PYG 8005.376746
QAR 3.644223
RON 4.374502
RSD 102.966435
RUB 82.000422
RWF 1428.979332
SAR 3.751033
SBD 8.361298
SCR 14.651979
SDG 600.501985
SEK 9.643735
SGD 1.305825
SHP 0.785843
SLE 22.75021
SLL 20969.483762
SOS 571.328164
SRD 36.849418
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.746876
SYP 13001.961096
SZL 18.542907
THB 33.321501
TJS 10.555936
TMT 3.51
TND 2.990231
TOP 2.342102
TRY 38.501202
TTD 6.782431
TWD 31.975997
TZS 2685.000535
UAH 41.530014
UGX 3663.550745
UYU 42.090559
UZS 12943.724275
VES 86.54811
VND 26005
VUV 121.306988
WST 2.770092
XAF 576.298184
XAG 0.030422
XAU 0.000302
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.71673
XOF 576.29312
XPF 104.776254
YER 245.050187
ZAR 18.54398
ZMK 9001.200989
ZMW 27.965227
ZWL 321.999592
  • SCS

    0.1500

    10.01

    +1.5%

  • RBGPF

    -0.4500

    63

    -0.71%

  • RYCEF

    -0.1300

    10.12

    -1.28%

  • NGG

    0.1900

    73.04

    +0.26%

  • RIO

    0.0100

    60.88

    +0.02%

  • VOD

    0.0100

    9.58

    +0.1%

  • CMSC

    -0.0800

    22.24

    -0.36%

  • GSK

    0.9100

    38.97

    +2.34%

  • RELX

    0.4300

    53.79

    +0.8%

  • JRI

    0.1300

    12.93

    +1.01%

  • AZN

    1.7800

    71.71

    +2.48%

  • BCE

    0.1100

    21.92

    +0.5%

  • BCC

    -0.8300

    94.5

    -0.88%

  • BTI

    0.4700

    42.86

    +1.1%

  • CMSD

    -0.1300

    22.35

    -0.58%

  • BP

    -1.0600

    28.07

    -3.78%

Swiss region votes on giving primates fundamental rights
Swiss region votes on giving primates fundamental rights

Swiss region votes on giving primates fundamental rights

A northern Swiss region will vote Sunday on whether non-human primates should enjoy some of the same basic fundamental rights as their human cousins.

Text size:

The vote in the Basel-Stadt canton, which is home to the city of the same name and to one of Europe's best-known zoos, is being keenly followed by animal rights activists.

- Giving primates 'integrity' -

Triggered by the campaign group Sentience under Switzerland's direct democracy system, the regional vote concerns whether to give primates the right to life and the right to "mental and physical integrity".

"This will mark the first time worldwide that people can vote on fundamental rights for non-human animals," the group claims.

Basel-based Sentience says primates are highly intelligent and maintain an active social life, and feel pain, grief and compassion.

However, they cannot defend themselves against interventions in their lives -- so humans need to take responsibility and grant them rights, says Sentience.

The group says some 150 primates live in the canton, which borders France and Germany.

- Legal challenge -

In 2020, Switzerland's Supreme Court deemed a public vote on the topic was valid, rejecting an appeal.

It found that the proposal would not extend fundamental rights to animals -- but instead introduce specific rights for non-human primates.

However, it said the proposal would only bind the cantonal and municipal authorities in Switzerland's third-biggest city, and "not directly private persons".

The impact on private research institutions, and on Basel Zoo -- in the hands of family shareholders -- would therefore be limited.

And, according to the court, the local authorities and their public bodies do not have any primates.

- Establishing the law -

The vote is "a statement of intent so that primates live in better conditions," said Pedro Pozas, the Spanish director of the Great Apes Project, an international movement which demands a set of rights.

Animal defenders say the vote is highly symbolic. Its scope could be very wide, said Steven Wise, a US lawyer specialising in animal rights.

The vote "would give certain rights to primates, which would have to be litigated out as to what rights those are", he told AFP.

Wise said the proposal raises several questions, including who would plead a primate's case in court if its rights were violated?

If the vote goes through, Swiss courts would meanwhile not be the first to hear such cases.

In 2017 in Argentina, a court granted a female chimpanzee the right not to be imprisoned without trial, under habeas corpus. It was the first chimpanzee in the world to benefit from this right.

Wise said the animal rights movement was trying to "break through the barrier" limiting the extent to which rights can be applied.

He compared the situation to previous battles to extend rights among humans, citing children, women or racial minorities.

Pozas said the United Nations should also make a declaration on the rights of great apes.

- Euthanasia question -

While the proposed new law would only concern primates kept by public bodies, Basel Zoo board member Olivier Pagan fears a spillover effect on their primates.

"If the initiative was adopted, the scrutiny of their well-being and safety would no longer be the responsibility of experienced biologists, veterinarians and experienced caregivers, but of a mediator... or even unqualified lawyers," he said.

When a primate is in serious pain, it might not be possible to end its suffering, under the right to life clause.

Zoo veterinarian Fabia Wyss said: "If the initiative is adopted and if I decide to put the animal to sleep, I put myself beyond the law."

"But by letting an animal suffer unnecessarily, I am also equally culpable."

D.Peng--ThChM