Grapevine

The darker side of human rights for great apes

The Spanish government has announced plans to ban harmful experiments on great apes as part of a wider initiative to give them increased rights closer to the ones humans enjoy.

These plans are forward thinking compared with most of the rest of the world but the move is a double edged one. Bestowing human rights on great apes because of their similarity to us creates a new criteria—other animals can only be free of pain and suffering if researchers can prove they are human-like.

Great apes are the subset of non-human primates which include orangutans, gorillas, bonobos and chimpanzees. Over 16 years ago Spain first tried to grant great apes personhood. The cross party resolution was discussed but was never brought into law.

Currently, "unnecessary" experimentation is banned on great apes in 29 countries including the UK, the EU and New Zealand. This includes vivisection (surgery on a live body) or torture, depending on your attitude to the moral rights of great apes).

This may sound progressive. The problem is that "necessary" is defined in different ways. It usually focuses on crisis situations such as pandemics and epidemics, and in brain related research (primarily Alzheimer's and brain trauma research) where many scientists argue the similarity of the great ape brain to humans makes it the only equivalent model. In 1999, New Zealand proposed bestowing human rights on great apes, but stopped short of doing so, instead banning all invasive experimentation on great apes.