Reuters: court of appeals of new York denied a chimpanzee human rights
The court considered the claim of human rights defenders who were trying to secure the release from captivity of two chimpanzees and their transfer from private hands to the reserve.
MOSCOW, June 9. /TASS/. The court of appeal of the U.S. state of new York has ruled that chimpanzees can not have the same rights as people. This was reported by Reuters.
The court considered the claim of the human rights organization Nonhuman Rights Project. Animal rights activists tried to secure the release from captivity of the two chimpanzees with the names Tommy and Kiko and their transfer from private hands to the reserve.
The organization’s representatives argued that chimpanzees, like people, have a basic right to freedom and should not be kept in cages. As arguments the defenders of animals is an excerpt from the writings of British scientist and expert on the great apes Jane Goodall, who claims that chimpanzees possess similar human behaviors and abilities to communicate and cognition.
However, the court disagreed with these arguments. In the judgment it is noted that “these common traits do not imply that chimpanzees can, as humans, have the legal duties or be held responsible for their actions.”