A few weeks ago, news outlets around the world reported this incredible story. Sandra, a 29-year-old orangutan who had lived her entire life as a captive in the zoo, was granted habeas corpus.
Este artículo puede utilizarse para clase de Ethics/Philosophytrabajando así los conceptos se citan en él y reflexionando al mismo tiempo sobre el reconocimiento de derechos que la sociedad otorga a los animales en nuestra sociedad actual.
Fountain: Nietzsche's horse.
Se llama Sandra y en febrero cumplirá 29 años. Es una orangutana que ha vivido toda su vida en cautiverio, los últimos veinte años en el zoo de Palermo, en Buenos Aires, y prácticamente la totalidad de ese tiempo en absoluta soledad. Ahora la Justicia de Argentina la ha reconocido como “sujeto no humano” con los derechos básicos que le son inherentes, comenzando por el de la libertad.
En un fallo histórico, la Cámara de Casación Penal considera que Sandra's deprivation of liberty is "illegal" y le concede un `hábeas corpus´, una institución concebida para defender los Derechos Humanos, evitar las detenciones y privaciones de libertad arbitrarias y asegurar en todo momento los derechos básicos de las personas detenidas o presas. Cuando se aprueba para una persona humana, implica su inmediata puesta en libertad.
Habeas corpus, a fundamental pillar of human rights, has now been granted to an orangutan, marking a giant leap forward in the recognition of animal rights and setting a precedent that could open the door to many other cages in many other zoos. Sandra can now be transferred to a sanctuary, a nature reserve in Brazil where she can live in semi-freedom and regain contact with others of her species.
La Asociación de Funcionarios y Abogados por el Derecho de los Animales (LANGUAGE) solicitó el hábeas corpus para Sandra, pero la juez penal de instrucción Mónica Berdión lo rechazó el pasado mes de noviembre. Finalmente, la Sala Segunda de la Cámara de Casación ha determinado que el confinamiento de Sandra es “injustificado” puesto que se trata de un animal con “cognitive capacity”.
The ruling refutes the version of events presented by the zoo where Sandra lives, and with it, the version of events presented by all centers that keep animals in captivity. Zoo officials argued that the habeas corpus petition demonstrated a “lack of understanding” of the natural behavior of orangutans, “solitary and very calm animals that only come together to mate or care for their young.” They maintained that “unjustifiably alleging mistreatment, stress, or depression in the animal is to fall into one of the most common errors humans make: humanizing any animal behavior. Sandra receives exceptional care and lives in solitude because that is what her species requires,” they stated.
The ruling paves the way for all animals legally considered private property and therefore treatable as objects at the disposal of their owners. Sandra is not human, but she possesses a degree of reasoning; she feels, suffers, experiences frustration from captivity, makes decisions, creates and maintains emotional bonds, and is aware of herself and the passage of time. She cries, learns, and communicates. Her suffering from deprivation of liberty and lack of contact with others like herself is very similar to that experienced by a human being, and this is what the ruling acknowledges. “Based on a dynamic, rather than static, legal interpretation, it is necessary to recognize the animal as a subject of rights, since non-human subjects (animals) are rights holders, thus requiring their protection within the corresponding jurisdictional framework.”
Zoo officials have the option to appeal to the Supreme Court of Justice of Argentina, which could delay Sandra's release and transfer to Brazil. According to AFADA, there are 14 other primates in the same situation in Argentina alone, for whom this ruling offers a glimmer of hope.