Chimps have feelings and thoughts. They should also have rights

Translator: Maite Segador Reviewer: Cristina Domínguez Roca

I'd like to have you look at this pencil.

M'agradaria que miréssiu aquest llapis.

It's a thing. It's a legal thing.

És una cosa. És una cosa legal.

And so are books you might have or the cars you own.

Com ho són els llibres o els cotxes que pugueu tenir.

They're all legal things.

Tot això són coses legals.

The great apes that you'll see behind me,

Els grans simis que veieu darrere meu,

they too are legal things.

també són coses legals.

Now, I can do that to a legal thing.

Ara, jo puc fer això a una cosa legal.

I can do whatever I want to my book or my car.

Puc fer el que vulgui amb el meu llibre o amb el meu cotxe.

These great apes, you'll see.

Amb aquests grans simis, ja veurem.

The photographs are taken by a man named James Mollison

Un home anomenat James Mollison va fer aquestes fotografies,

who wrote a book called "James & Other Apes."

també va escriure un llibre titulat "James & Other Apes."

And he tells in his book how every single one them,

I en el seu llibre, ens explica com cadascun d'aquests micos,

almost every one of them, is an orphan

o gairebé tots ells, són orfes,

who saw his mother and father die before his eyes.

van veure, amb els seus propis ulls com morien la mare i el pare

They're legal things.

Són coses legals.

So for centuries, there's been a great legal wall

Així que durant segles ha existit un gran mur legal

that separates legal things from legal persons.

que separa les coses legals de les persones legals.

On one hand, legal things are invisible to judges.

Per una banda, les coses legals són invisibles pels jutges.

They don't count in law.

La llei no les té en compte.

They don't have any legal rights.

No tenen cap dret legal.

They don't have the capacity for legal rights.

No tenen la capacitat d'acollir-se als drets legals.

They are the slaves.

Són esclaus.

On the other side of that legal wall are the legal persons.

A l'altra banda d'aquest mur legal, hi són les persones legals.

Legal persons are very visible to judges.

Les persones legals són molt visibles pels jutges.

They count in law.

La llei les té en compte.

They may have many rights.

Poden tenir molts drets.

They have the capacity for an infinite number of rights.

Disposen de la capacitat d'acollir-se a un nombre infinit de drets.

And they're the masters.

I són els amos.

Right now, all nonhuman animals are legal things.

Ara mateix, tots els animals no humans són coses legals.

All human beings are legal persons.

Tots els éssers humans són persones legals.

But being human and being a legal person

Però ser humà i ser una persona legal

has never been, and is not today, synonymous with a legal person.

mai ha sigut, i segueix sense ser, sinònim de persona legal.

Humans and legal persons are not synonymous.

Els humans i les persones legals no són sinònims.

On the one side,

D'una banda

there have been many human beings over the centuries

hi ha hagut molts éssers humans a través dels segles

who have been legal things.

que han sigut coses legals.

Slaves were legal things.

Els esclaus van ser coses legals.

Women, children, were sometimes legal things.

Dones, nens, van arribar a ser coses legals.

Indeed, a great deal of civil rights struggle over the last centuries

De fet, moltes de les lluites pels drets civils durant els darrers segles

has been to punch a hole through that wall and begin to feed

s'han dut a terme per a fer un forat en aquell mur i traspassar

these human things through the wall and have them become legal persons.

les coses humanes a l'altre costat per a esdevenir persones legals.

But alas, that hole has closed up.

Però malauradament, aquell forat s'ha tancat.

Now, on the other side are legal persons,

D' altra banda, les persones legals hi són,

but they've never only been limited to human beings.

però no sempre se les ha limitat a ser persones humanes.

There are, for example, there are many legal persons who are not even alive.

Hi ha per exemple, moltes persones legals que ni tan sols són vives.

In the United States,

Als Estats Units,

we're aware of the fact that corporations are legal persons.

som conscients que les corporacions són persones legals.

In pre-independence India,

A l'Índia abans que fos independent,

a court held that a Hindu idol was a legal person,

una cort va sostenir que un ídol fos una persona legal,

that a mosque was a legal person.

que una mesquita fos una persona legal.

In 2000, the Indian Supreme Court

Al 2000, la Cort Suprema de l'Índia

held that the holy books of the Sikh religion was a legal person,

va sostenir que el llibre sagrat de la religió Sikh fos persona legal,

and in 2012, just recently,

i al 2012, recentment,

there was a treaty between the indigenous peoples of New Zealand

va haver-hi un acord entre el poble indígena de Nova Zelanda

and the crown, in which it was agreed that a river was a legal person

i la corona, en què es va acordar que un riu era una persona legal

who owned its own riverbed.

i podia posseir la seva pròpia glera.

Now, I read Peter Singer's book in 1980,

Vaig llegir el llibre de Peter Singer al 1980,

when I had a full head of lush, brown hair,

quan encara lluïa un cabell castany i frondós,

and indeed I was moved by it,

i, de fet, em va commoure,

because I had become a lawyer because I wanted to speak for the voiceless,

perquè vaig decidir ser advocat per a defensar els que no tenien veu,

defend the defenseless,

defensar els indefensos,

and I'd never realized how voiceless and defenseless the trillions,

i mai m'havia adonat de com de muts i indefensos són els milers de

billions of nonhuman animals are.

milions d'animals no humans.

And I began to work as an animal protection lawyer.

Així doncs, vaig començar a treballar com a advocat de protecció animal.

And by 1985, I realized that I was trying to accomplish something

I cap el 1985, vaig adonar-me que estava intentant acomplir quelcom

that was literally impossible,

que era literalment impossible,

the reason being that all of my clients,

la raó era que tots els meus clients,

all the animals whose interests I was trying to defend,

tots els animals, els interessos dels quals jo intentava defensar,

were legal things; they were invisible.

eren coses legals; eren invisibles. Allò no podia funcionar.

It was not going to work, so I decided

I vaig decidir que allò només podria funcionar si

that the only thing that was going to work was they had, at least some of them,

aconseguiem passar-ne, com a mínim uns quants,

had to also be moved through a hole that we could open up again in that wall

a l'altre costat del mur, a través d'un forat que podíem tornar a obrir

and begin feeding the appropriate nonhuman animals through that hole

per a començar a passar els animals no humans a través d'aquell forat

onto the other side of being legal persons.

cap a l'altre costat, el de persones legals.

Now, at that time, there was very little known about or spoken about

Llavors, els veritables drets dels animals

truly animal rights,

no es coneixien gaire, tampoc se'n parlava sovint,

about the idea of having legal personhood or legal rights for a nonhuman animal,

i no es contemplava la idea que un animal no humà tingués drets,

and I knew it was going to take a long time.

vaig adonar-me que allò anava per llarg.

And so, in 1985, I figured that it would take about 30 years

Així doncs, al 1985, vaig suposar que trigaríem uns 30 anys

before we'd be able to even begin a strategic litigation,

abans que poguéssim començar un litigi estratègic,

long-term campaign, in order to be able to punch another hole through that wall.

una campanya de llarga durada, per a poder perforar un altre forat en el mur.

It turned out that I was pessimistic, that it only took 28.

Va resultar que jo era pessimista, només vam trigar 28 anys.

So what we had to do in order to begin was not only

Per a començar, no només vam haver de

to write law review articles and teach classes, write books,

redactar articles de revisió de la llei, donar classes i escriure llibres,

but we had to then begin to get down to the nuts and bolts

sinó que vam haver d'anar al gra, i utilitzar mesures concretes

of how you litigate that kind of case.

per tal de litigar aquest tipus de cas.

So one of the first things we needed to do was figure out what a cause of action was,

Així que el primer que necessitàvem fer era esbrinar quina seria la causa,

a legal cause of action.

la causa legal.

And a legal cause of action is a vehicle that lawyers use

Una causa legal és el vehicle que els advocats fan servir

to put their arguments in front of courts.

per a exposar els seus arguments davant d'un tribunal.

It turns out there's a very interesting case

Resulta que hi ha un cas molt interessant

that had occurred almost 250 years ago in London called Somerset vs. Stewart,

que va tenir lloc fa gairebé 250 anys a Londres anomenat Somerset vs. Stewart,

whereby a black slave had used the legal system

per mitjà del qual un esclau negre va fer ús del sistema legal

and had moved from a legal thing to a legal person.

i va passar de cosa legal a persona legal.

I was so interested in it that I eventually wrote an entire book about it.

Em vaig sentir tant interessat en el tema que vaig escriure un llibre sobre això.

James Somerset was an eight-year-old boy when he was kidnapped from West Africa.

James Somerseter tenia vuit anys quan el van segrestar a l'Àfrica occidental.

He survived the Middle Passage,

Va sobreviure la Travessia de l'Atlàntic

and he was sold to a Scottish businessman named Charles Stewart in Virginia.

i va ser venut a Virgínia a un empresari escocès anomenat Charles Stewart.

Now, 20 years later, Stewart brought James Somerset to London,

Vint anys després, Stewart va portar en James Somerset a Londres,

and after he got there, James decided he was going to escape.

i un cop allà, en James va decidir fugir.

And so one of the first things he did was to get himself baptized,

Una de les primeres coses que va fer va ser batejar-se,

because he wanted to get a set of godparents,

perquè volia tenir padrins,

because to an 18th-century slave,

perquè tots els esclaus del segle XVIII,

they knew that one of the major responsibilities of godfathers

sabien que una de les grans responsabilitats dels padrins

was to help you escape.

era ajudar-te a escapar.

And so in the fall of 1771,

Per consegüent, a la tardor de 1771,

James Somerset had a confrontation with Charles Stewart.

James Somerset es va enfrontar a en Charles Stewart.

We don't know exactly what happened, but then James dropped out of sight.

No sabem exactament què va passar, però després en James va desaparèixer.

An enraged Charles Stewart then hired slave catchers

Un emprenyat Charles Stewart va llogar un caçador d'esclaus

to canvass the city of London,

per a què sondegés la ciutat de Londres,

find him, bring him not back to Charles Stewart,

el trobés, i el portés no a en Charles Steward,

but to a ship, the Ann and Mary, that was floating in London Harbour,

sinó a un vaixell, l´ "Ann and Mary", que estava amarrat al port de Londres.

and he was chained to the deck,

Després d'encadenar-lo a coberta,

and the ship was to set sail for Jamaica

el vaixell havia de salpar rumb a Jamaica

where James was to be sold in the slave markets

on havien de vendre en James en un dels mercats d'esclaus,

and be doomed to the three to five years of life that a slave had

i l'havien de condemnar a un període de tres a cinc anys de vida d'esclau

harvesting sugar cane in Jamaica.

collint canya de sucre a Jamaica.

Well now James' godparents swung into action.

Llavors va ser quan els padrins de'n James van posar fil a l'agulla.

They approached the most powerful judge,

Es van acostar al jutge més poderós,

Lord Mansfield, who was chief judge of the court of King's Bench,

Lord Mansfield que era magistrat de la cort dels tribunals del rei,

and they demanded that he issue a common law writ of habeus corpus

i li van demanar que emetés una ordre de dret comú d' habeas corpus

on behalf of James Somerset.

a nom de James Somerset.

Now, the common law is the kind of law that English-speaking judges can make

El dret comú permet als jutges anglosaxons crear lleis

when they're not cabined in by statutes or constitutions,

quan no es troben dins d'estatuts o constitucions,

and a writ of habeus corpus is called the Great Writ,

i una ordre d'habeas corpus s'anomena Gran Mandat,

capital G, capital W,

amb G majúscula, i M majúscula,

and it's meant to protect any of us who are detained against our will.

i té l'objectiu de protegir-nos si ens han detingut contra la nostra voluntat.

A writ of habeus corpus is issued.

Així doncs, s'emet un recurs d'habeas corpus.

The detainer is required to bring the detainee in

Cal presentar l'ordre de detenció

and give a legally sufficient reason for depriving him of his bodily liberty.

i s'ha de donar una raó legalment convincent per a privar al detingut de llibertat.

Well, Lord Mansfield had to make a decision right off the bat,

Així que Lord Mansfield havia de prendre una decisió immediata,

because if James Somerset was a legal thing,

perquè si James Somerset era una cosa legal,

he was not eligible for a writ of habeus corpus,

no era apte per a un mandat d'habeas corpus,

only if he could be a legal person.

a no ser que fos una persona legal.

So Lord Mansfield decided that he would assume,

Lord Mansfield va determinar que suposaria,

without deciding, that James Somerset was indeed a legal person,

sense decidir-ho del tot, que James Somerset era, una persona legal,

and he issued the writ of habeus corpus, and James's body was brought in

va publicar el mandat d'habeas corpus, i el capità del vaixell

by the captain of the ship.

va portar-li en James.

There were a series of hearings over the next six months.

Durant els sis mesos següents, es van realitzar un seguit d'audiències.

On June 22, 1772, Lord Mansfield said that slavery was so odious,

El 22 de juny de 1772, Lord Mansfield va proclamar que l'esclavitud era odiosa,

and he used the word "odious,"

i va emprar la paraula "odiosa,"

that the common law would not support it, and he ordered James free.

va dir que la llei comuna no la recolzaria, i va ordenar que James fos lliure.

At that moment, James Somerset underwent a legal transubstantiation.

En aquell moment, James Somerset va patir una metamorfosi legal.

The free man who walked out of the courtroom

L'home lliure que sortia de la sala

looked exactly like the slave who had walked in,

era el mateix que l'esclau que hi havia entrat,

but as far as the law was concerned, they had nothing whatsoever in common.

però legalment, no tenien res en comú.

The next thing we did is that the Nonhuman Rights Project,

El següent pas va ser que el Projecte dels Drets No Humans,

which I founded, then began to look at what kind of values and principles

que jo vaig fundar, considerés quins eren els valors i principis

do we want to put before the judges?

que volíem exposar davant els jutges.

What values and principles did they imbibe with their mother's milk,

Quins valors i principis havien après de petits,

were they taught in law school, do they use every day,

els que havien après a la facultat de dret, els que aplicaven cada dia,

do they believe with all their hearts -- and we chose liberty and equality.

els que creien amb sinceritat. I vam escollir llibertat i igualtat.

Now, liberty right is the kind of right to which you're entitled

La llibertat és un tipus de dret que rebem

because of how you're put together,

segons la manera en què ens agrupem ,

and a fundamental liberty right protects a fundamental interest.

i un dret fonamental de llibertat protegeix un interès fonamental.

And the supreme interest in the common law

I l'interès suprem a la llei comuna

are the rights to autonomy and self-determination.

són els drets d'autonomia i autodeterminació.

So they are so powerful that in a common law country,

Aquests drets són tan poderosos que en un país de dret comú,

if you go to a hospital and you refuse life-saving medical treatment,

si aneu a un hospital i rebutgeu un tractament mèdic que us salva la vida,

a judge will not order it forced upon you,

un jutge no us obligarà a rebre'l,

because they will respect your self-determination and your autonomy.

perquè respectarà la vostra autodeterminació i la vostra autonomia.

Now, an equality right is the kind of right to which you're entitled

Actualment, el dret d'igualtat és un dret del qual podem gaudir

because you resemble someone else in a relevant way,

ja que ens assemblem als altres d'una manera rellevant,

and there's the rub, relevant way.

i vet aquí el problema, manera rellevant.

So if you are that, then because they have the right, you're like them,

Així que, si tu ets d'una manera, com que tens aquest dret, pot ser com l'altre

you're entitled to the right.

tens dret a la igualtat.

Now, courts and legislatures draw lines all the time.

Però les corts i el poder legislatiu sempre posen límits.

Some are included, some are excluded.

N'hi ha que queden inclosos i n'hi ha que queden exclosos.

But you have to, at the bare minimum you must --

Però, com a mínim, al menys--

that line has to be a reasonable means to a legitimate end.

aquest límit ha de ser un mitjà raonable cap a un fi legítim.

The Nonhuman Rights Project argues that drawing a line

El Projecte de Drets No Humans sosté que establir límits

in order to enslave an autonomous and self-determining being

per a esclavitzar un ésser autònom i amb autodeterminació

like you're seeing behind me,

com els que veieu darrere meu,

that that's a violation of equality.

és una violació de la igualtat.

We then searched through 80 jurisdictions,

Llavors vam buscar entre 80 jurisdiccions,

it took us seven years, to find the jurisdiction

ens va portar set anys trobar la jurisdicció

where we wanted to begin filing our first suit.

on volíem començar a presentar la primera denúncia.

We chose the state of New York.

Vam escollir l'estat de Nova York.

Then we decided upon who our plaintiffs are going to be.

Llavors vam decidir qui serien els nostres demandants.

We decided upon chimpanzees,

Ens vam decidir pels ximpanzés,

not just because Jane Goodall was on our board of directors,

no només perquè Jane Goodall era a la junta directiva,

but because they, Jane and others,

sinó perquè ells, la Jane i d'altres,

have studied chimpanzees intensively for decades.

havien estudiat els ximpanzés intensament durant dècades.

We know the extraordinary cognitive capabilities that they have,

Coneixiem les capacitats cognitives extraordinàries que tenen,

and they also resemble the kind that human beings have.

i són similars a les dels éssers humans.

And so we chose chimpanzees, and we began to then canvass the world

Per tant, vam escollir els ximpanzés, i vam començar a investigar

to find the experts in chimpanzee cognition.

per a trobar experts en cognició dels ximpanzés.

We found them in Japan, Sweden, Germany, Scotland, England and the United States,

En vam trobar a Japó, a Suècia, a Alemanya, a Escòcia, a Anglaterra i als EUA,

and amongst them, they wrote 100 pages of affidavits

i entre tots van escriure 100 pàgines d'afidàvits

in which they set out more than 40 ways

on van presentar més de 40 maneres

in which their complex cognitive capability,

en les quals les capacitats cognitives complexes dels ximpanzés,

either individually or together,

tant individualment com conjuntament,

all added up to autonomy and self-determination.

totes conduïen a l'autonomia i a l'autodeterminació.

Now, these included, for example, that they were conscious.

Incloïen, per exemple, que són animals conscients.

But they're also conscious that they're conscious.

Però també que eren conscients que són conscients.

They know they have a mind. They know that others have minds.

Ells saben que tenen ment. Saben que els altres tenen ment.

They know they're individuals, and that they can live.

Saben que són individus, i que poden viure.

They understand that they lived yesterday and they will live tomorrow.

Entenen que van viure ahir i que viuran demà.

They engage in mental time travel. They remember what happened yesterday.

Participen en el viatge mental en el temps. Recorden què va passar ahir.

They can anticipate tomorrow,

Es poden anticipar al demà,

which is why it's so terrible to imprison a chimpanzee, especially alone.

la qual cosa fa que sigui terrible empresonar un ximpanzé, sobretot sol.

It's the thing that we do to our worst criminals,

És el que fem als pitjors criminals,

and we do that to chimpanzees without even thinking about it.

i ho fem als ximpanzés sense ni tan sols pensar-hi.

They have some kind of moral capacity.

Tenen un tipus de capacitat moral.

When they play economic games with human beings,

Quan juguen a jocs econòmics amb els éssers humans,

they'll spontaneously make fair offers, even when they're not required to do so.

espontàniament fan ofertes justes, inclús quan no se'ls demana.

They are numerate. They understand numbers.

Són hàbils amb l'aritmètica. Entenen els números.

They can do some simple math.

Fan matemàtiques senzilles.

They can engage in language -- or to stay out of the language wars,

Poden participar en el llenguatge-- o evitar la guerra de llenguatges,

they're involved in intentional and referential communication

participen en una comunicació referencial i intencional

in which they pay attention to the attitudes of those

i paren atenció a les actituds d'aquells

with whom they are speaking.

amb qui parlen.

They have culture.

Tenen cultura.

They have a material culture, a social culture.

Tenen una cultura material, una cultura social.

They have a symbolic culture.

Posseeixen una cultura simbòlica.

Scientists in the Taï Forests in the Ivory Coast

Uns científics als Boscos de Taï, a la Costa d'Ivori,

found chimpanzees who were using these rocks to smash open

es van trobar uns ximpanzés que feien servir aquestes roques per trencar

the incredibly hard hulls of nuts.

les closques increïblement dures de les nous.

It takes a long time to learn how to do that,

Es necessita molt de temps per a aprendre a fer això,

and they excavated the area and they found

i van excavar l'àrea i van trobar

that this material culture, this way of doing it,

que aquesta cultura material, aquesta manera de fer-ho,

these rocks, had passed down for at least 4,300 years

aquestes roques, s'havien transmès durant al menys 4.300 anys,

through 225 chimpanzee generations.

a través de 225 generacions de ximpanzés.

So now we needed to find our chimpanzee.

Ens quedava trobar el nostre ximpanzé.

Our chimpanzee,

El nostre ximpanzé,

first we found two of them in the state of New York.

primer vam trobar-ne dos a l'estat de Nova York.

Both of them would die before we could even get our suits filed.

Tots dos van morir abans que poguéssim presentar la denúncia.

Then we found Tommy.

Aleshores vam trobar en Tommy.

Tommy is a chimpanzee. You see him behind me.

En Tommy és un ximpanzé. El veieu darrere meu.

Tommy was a chimpanzee. We found him in that cage.

En Tommy era un ximpanzé. El vam trobar en una gàbia.

We found him in a small room that was filled with cages

Era en una habitació petita plena de gàbies

in a larger warehouse structure on a used trailer lot in central New York.

dins un magatzem en una parcel·la de tràilers de segona mà a Nova York.

We found Kiko, who is partially deaf.

Vam trobar en Kiko, és parcialment sord.

Kiko was in the back of a cement storefront in western Massachusetts.

En Kiko era a la part del darrere d'una façana de ciment a Massachusetts.

And we found Hercules and Leo.

I vam trobar n'Hèrcules i en Leo.

They're two young male chimpanzees

Són dos ximpanzés joves mascles

who are being used for biomedical, anatomical research at Stony Brook.

que s'utilitzen per a la investigació anatòmica i biomèdica a Stony Brook.

We found them.

Els vam trobar.

And so on the last week of December 2013,

I així la darrera setmana de desembre del 2013,

the Nonhuman Rights Project filed three suits all across the state of New York

el Projecte dels Drets No Humans va presentar tres demandes a Nova York

using the same common law writ of habeus corpus argument

fent servir el mateix mandat de dret comú d'al·legació d'habeas corpus

that had been used with James Somerset,

que es va utilitzar amb en James Somerset,

and we demanded that the judges issue these common law writs of habeus corpus.

i vam exigir que els jutges emetessin aquests mandats d'habeas corpus.

We wanted the chimpanzees out,

Volíem els ximpanzés fora,

and we wanted them brought to Save the Chimps,

i volíem que fossin traslladats a Save the Chimps,

a tremendous chimpanzee sanctuary in South Florida

un santuari de ximpanzés enorme al sud de Florida

which involves an artificial lake with 12 or 13 islands --

que inclou un llac artificial amb 12 o 13 illes--

there are two or three acres where two dozen chimpanzees live

és un terreny d'aproximadament una hectàrea

on each of them.

on viuen 24 ximpanzés repartits.

And these chimpanzees would then live the life of a chimpanzee,

I ara aquests ximpanzés podran viure com a ximpanzés,

with other chimpanzees in an environment that was as close to Africa as possible.

amb altres ximpanzés en un entorn el més proper possible a l'Àfrica.

Now, all these cases are still going on.

Avui dia, tots aquests casos encara continuen.

We have not yet run into our Lord Mansfield.

Encara no ens em ensopegat amb el nostre Lord Mansfield.

We shall. We shall.

Peró ho aconseguirem.

This is a long-term strategic litigation campaign. We shall.

Aquesta és una llarga campanya de litigació estratègica. Ho aconseguirem.

And to quote Winston Churchill,

I cito a Winston Churchill:

the way we view our cases is that they're not the end,

"veiem els nostres casos, no com el final,

they're not even the beginning of the end,

ni tant sols com el principi del final,

but they are perhaps the end of the beginning.

sinó que són, potser, el final del principi.

Thank you.

Gràcies.

(Applause)

(Aplaudiments)