The initiative became the subject of a 3-year legal dispute that ended with a decision of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court in September 2020, ruling that the initiative is legally valid and must be put to the people for a vote.
SENTIENCE POLITICS: A citizens’ initiative was launched in 2016 in the Swiss canton of Basel-Stadt, demanding that the rights catalogue in the Cantonal Constitution be complemented by a fundamental right to life and a right to bodily and mental integrity for non-human primates. This initiative became the subject of a three-year legal dispute that ended with a decision of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court in September 2020, ruling that the initiative is legally valid and must be put to the people for a vote…
As humans we belong to the species of dry-nosed primates. Over three hundred other primate species are our close relatives – the so-called ‘non-human’ primates. Despite an abundance of characteristics we share with them, such as maintaining a family life, cultural rules, social rituals, friendships, strong communicative understanding, complex learning processes, empathy and sentience, non-human primates have no self-determination in our society.
They serve for entertainment and research, but cannot defend themselves against exploitation or excessive interference in their lives. The global extinction of species and the loss of biodiversity demonstrate it quite clearly: In order to adequately protect animals and nature, we have to change our way of thinking and deal with them better than we have done so far…
Animals are no objects – this is stated in the Swiss Civil Code (ZGB Art. 641a). Nevertheless, the Swiss Animal Welfare Law grossly ignores this principle by defining the conditions under which we are allowed to use, harm and kill primates. In Basel alone, 929 incriminating primate experiments have been carried out in the last 10 years.
Should the initiative be accepted, the canton of Basel-Stadt would be obliged to guarantee non-human primates the right to live as well as to maintain their physical and mental integrity. This would finally allow them in practice not to be treated as objects but as sentient individuals. The University of Basel, for example, would only be allowed to carry out experiments on non-human primates in which their fundamental rights are respected (e.g. in the context of behavioural studies).
Private companies, such as the zoological gardens or pharmaceutical industries, would only be indirectly affected by the new laws. According to the Federal Supreme Court, they could, for example, introduce stricter rules for the protection of non-human primates. For enforcement, an ombudsperson created by the canton or an independent counsel may be conceivable, as already formulated in detail by the Basel Constitutional Court…
The initiative therefore demands limited rights for all non-human primates in the canton of Basel-Stadt: the right to life as well as the right to physical and mental integrity – no more, no less. On 13 February 2022 the Basel electorate will be able to cast their votes on the proposal. This will mark the first time worldwide that people can vote on fundamental rights for non-human animals. SOURCE…
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