Basel – “Rights for primates – women and slaves also had none for a long time”

In February, Basel will vote on the primate initiative. The initiators, the organization Sentience Politics, demand with the initiative that primates (monkeys, lemurs) should receive adapted basic rights for them. From a legal point of view, this refers to monkeys owned by the canton of Basel-Stadt, but the canton does not own any. The animal rights activists justify the initiative by stating that from 2011 to 2020 over half of all Swiss animal experiments took place in Basel. “929 had a severity level of one to three – that is, attempts in which the primates were inflicted pain,” says the campaign manager Tamina Graber. Only since 2019 have there been no more primate experiments with severity levels one or two. This shows that such attempts could be reintroduced at any time without accepting the initiative, said Graber.

The initiators are supported by various animal welfare organizations and the left-wing Basel parties. According to SP Grand Councilor Barbara Heer, the canton could provide an important impetus for the ethical-philosophical, social and political discussion with the primate initiative. “The history of our democracy is the story of the struggle for rights by those without rights,” says Heer. Every right had to be laboriously won before it could be taken for granted. «In our societies slaves and women have long been excluded from rights. Today the question arises, does it make sense and is it fair that only human beings have rights? ”Said Heer.

One of the opponents of the initiative is Basel Zoo, which is an active member of the No Committee. “We take responsibility for our monkeys and carefully weigh every decision in the interests of the animals. With an acceptance, the expertise on their well-being and safety moves from trained biologists, veterinarians and animal carers to an ombudsperson or an adviser – perhaps even to non-specialist lawyers, “says Olivier Pagan, zoo director. This is not understandable for the zoo. «Nobody knows our apes better than our employees. Our animal husbandry is also regularly checked by the Basel-Stadt veterinary office, ”says Pagan.

According to the zoo, if a monkey were given rights, it would do nothing to protect the animal and protect it. «A monkey can neither exercise nor enforce its rights by itself. He will always have to rely on someone to represent his rights », the zoo said in a press release. Monkeys should have the right to remain monkeys, it continues. “Just like all other animals, they should be protected by competent experts and looked after to the best of their knowledge and belief,” says Zolli.

The pharmaceutical giants Roche and Novartis are also represented on the No Committee. In general, they stay out of cantonal politics, but this time they speak out clearly against it, although neither Roche nor Novartis would be affected by the initiative’s demands. No primates are kept for animal experiments in Basel. “The initiative would have no immediate impact on Basel as a research location, since industry in the canton of Basel-Stadt is no longer researching primates. However, it is possible at any time that a need for research could arise again. The effects of the present initiative could therefore be very far-reaching, ”said the No Committee.