Sabtu 06 Dec 2014 20:15 WIB

NY court: Chimpanzees have no human rights

Tommy, a 26-year-old chimp who lives alone in a shed in upstate New York in this undated photo.
Foto: Reuters/Pennebaker Hegedus film, Inc
Tommy, a 26-year-old chimp who lives alone in a shed in upstate New York in this undated photo.

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, ALBANY -- In the first case of its kind, a New York appeals court rejected on Thursday an animal rights advocate's bid to extend "legal personhood" to chimpanzees, saying the primates are incapable of bearing the responsibilities that come with having legal rights.

A five-judge panel of the Albany court said attorney Steven Wise had shown that Tommy, a 26-year-old chimp who lives alone in a shed in upstate New York, was an autonomous creature, but that it was not possible for him to understand the social contract that binds humans together.

"Needless to say, unlike human beings, chimpanzees cannot bear any legal duties, submit to societal responsibilities or be held legally accountable for their actions," Presiding Justice Karen Peters wrote.

Wise said that he would ask the Court of Appeals, New York state's top court, to hear the case.

"This is just the first appellate decision in a long-term strategic campaign" to win rights for chimps and other intelligent animals, he said.

Wise, representing The Nonhuman Rights Project, which he helped found in 2007, was seeking a ruling that Tommy had been unlawfully imprisoned by his owner, Patrick Lavery. Wise argued that the chimp should be released to a sanctuary in Florida.

The case is Nonhuman Rights Project v. Lavery, New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department, No. 518336.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

sumber : Reuters
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وَمَا تَفَرَّقُوْٓا اِلَّا مِنْۢ بَعْدِ مَا جَاۤءَهُمُ الْعِلْمُ بَغْيًاۢ بَيْنَهُمْۗ وَلَوْلَا كَلِمَةٌ سَبَقَتْ مِنْ رَّبِّكَ اِلٰٓى اَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى لَّقُضِيَ بَيْنَهُمْۗ وَاِنَّ الَّذِيْنَ اُوْرِثُوا الْكِتٰبَ مِنْۢ بَعْدِهِمْ لَفِيْ شَكٍّ مِّنْهُ مُرِيْبٍ
Dan mereka (Ahli Kitab) tidak berpecah belah kecuali setelah datang kepada mereka ilmu (kebenaran yang disampaikan oleh para nabi) karena kedengkian antara sesama mereka. Jika tidaklah karena suatu ketetapan yang telah ada dahulunya dari Tuhanmu (untuk menangguhkan azab) sampai batas waktu yang ditentukan, pastilah hukuman bagi mereka telah dilaksanakan. Dan sesungguhnya orang-orang yang mewarisi Kitab (Taurat dan Injil) setelah mereka (pada zaman Muhammad), benar-benar berada dalam keraguan yang mendalam tentang Kitab (Al-Qur'an) itu.

(QS. Asy-Syura ayat 14)

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