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Should Chimps Have Human Rights?

An anonymous reader writes "A Brazilian court has already issued a writ of habeas corpus in the name of a chimp. And now an Austrian court may well decide that a chimpanzee is a 'person' with what up until now have been called human rights." From the story in the Guardian/Observer: "He recognizes himself in the mirror, plays hide-and-seek and breaks into fits of giggles when tickled. He is also our closest evolutionary cousin. A group of world leading primatologists argue that this is proof enough that Hiasl, a 26-year-old chimpanzee, deserves to be treated like a human. In a test case in Austria, campaigners are seeking to ditch the 'species barrier' and have taken Hiasl's case to court. If Hiasl is granted human status — and the rights that go with it — it will signal a victory for other primate species and unleash a wave of similar cases."

11 of 1,019 comments (clear)

  1. I predict by RelliK · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    creationists will go apeshit!

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  2. Re:I don't know by kbox · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    compare that with the lowest human being and work your way up through the human being scale (if the chimp is better then the lowest human beings we have) until we find a type of human (most likely suffering some form of mental retardation) that is comparable with your average chimp. Then assign chimps the same rights as that human being has.
    Can't we just give retards `chimp rights' instead?
  3. Re:How about human rights for humans? by Digital+Vomit · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    There is no "leader of the free world".

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  4. Re:Great Apes Project by kestasjk · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Yeah, imagine the lines..
    Damn mooching chimps, next they'll want to be able to sit up in the front of our buses and use our public toilets.

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  5. Think of the creationists by gr8dude · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    If chimps are given human rights, it would mean that society accepts the fact that humans evolved from animals. This is "a little bit" problematic for the religious zealots out there, becuase man was created by god & co.

    In other words, I say we let our religious comrades deal with this one.

  6. Re:How about human rights for humans? by Digital+Vomit · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    I know. I'm implying that it's a bad one.

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    Modern copyright is theft of culture from everyone and it retards the progress of the useful arts and sciences.
  7. Re:Not *full* humans rights, but see Spain... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Yeah, but they're cats, so who cares. Get a real pet who cares if you are there or not. Get a dog. Smile more.

  8. Re:Chimps are not people! by Goaway · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    sentient if you ask me (but don't ask me to define it)

    Here, let me do that for you:

    sentient
    adj.

          1. Having sense perception; conscious: "The living knew themselves just sentient puppets on God's stage" (T.E. Lawrence).
          2. Experiencing sensation or feeling.


    This includes pretty much all animals. So yes, you are right that they are sentient. You should also consider getting yourself a dictionary for that vocabulary problem. I hear they even have them on the internet these days.

  9. Re:How about human rights for humans? by Moofie · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Your failure to understand subordinate clauses leaves room for tyrants to justify removing your essential liberties just because they have a tummy ache...which is exactly what's happened in the US today.

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  10. Re:How about human rights for humans? by Moofie · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Says you. The people in Gitmo and under extraordinary rendition might also disagree.

    But they're not human...they're just terrorists. All of them. God told us so.

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    Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!
  11. Re:Kinda self-explanatory... by dharbee · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    "It's not intellectual laziness..."

    Yes it is, yes you're wrong, and no, you simply misread the definitions because it's important to you to be rigth after you get slapped down.

    "If you're really going to claim that the OED uses the word wrong, have fun with that on the authority of...your brain."

    My copy of the OED says nothing about it. So you're lying (most likely) or your reading comprehension blows (still very likely).

    And since it's pretty clear to me and you're not capable of discerning the difference, we are not considering ourselves superior because of differences between our "race" (erroneous usage) and the apes "race"(erroneous usage), we are considering ourselves superior because of our Genus/Species.

    GET IT? COMPRENDE? VERSTEHEN?

    You're wrong, stop digging 8 definitions deep (which doesn't say anything about what you claim it does) and give it up. You're starting to sound (even more) desperate and pathetic.

    I mean god damn, how much time did you spend fabricating a response that you knew was wrong and a lie? How sad is that.