Declaration on Great Apes

The Great Ape Project, founded by Italian philosopher Paola Cavalieri and Australian philosopher Peter Singer, is campaigning to have the United Nations endorse a Declaration on Great Apes. This would extend what the project calls the "community of equals" to chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans.

The declaration seeks to extend to non-human great apes the protection of three basic interests: the right to life, the protection of individual liberty, and the prohibition of torture.

Right to life
The declaration states that members of the community of equals, which includes humans, may not be killed except in certain strictly defined circumstances such as self-defense.

Protection of individual liberty
Members of the community of equals are not to be deprived of their liberty, and are entitled to immediate release where there has been no form of due process. The detention of great apes who have not been convicted of any crime or who are not criminally liable should be permitted only where it can be shown that the detention is in their own interests or is necessary to protect the public. In such cases there must be a right of appeal, either directly or through an advocate, to a judicial tribunal.

Prohibition of torture
The declaration prohibits the torture, defined as the deliberate infliction of severe pain, on any great ape, whether wantonly or because of a perceived benefit to others.