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dierenactivisme en 2e kamer
ADC - 04.07.2007 22:45
9 augustus heb JIJ de kans om de TERRORISTEN van Respect voor Dieren en de Anti Dierproeven Coalitie samen in actie te zien! Om 13.00 hebben we een grote optocht door de binnenstad van Amsterdam, waar we protesteren tegen bont en dierproeven. savonds vertrekt er een bus (slecht 5 euro, opgeven gewenst  info@stopdierproeven.org) naar de Internationale Animal Rights Gathering 2007 die plaats vindt in Appelscha. Activisten uit meer dan 14 landen komen bijeen voor workshops, discussies en gezelligheid.
De 1e bus is al vol, een 2e bus is nu geregeld. Voor activisten uit Arnhem en Nijmegen, de bus zal donderdagochtend vertrekken uit Nijmegen en dan Arnhem aan doen, om op tijd aan te komen op de demo (Beursplein) Daarna vertrekt de bus naar de AR2007. De kosten blijven 5 euro. Opgeven bij info@stopdierproeven.org
Animal rights activists - calls for tougher measures
by Eric Hesen*
03-07-2007
A stone through a windscreen, a car splattered with paint, the wall of
a building covered in slogans, animal rights activists seem more and
more frequently to be using a tough, intimidating way of highlighting
their demands, and this has thrown the spotlight on them, particularly
so as far as the Dutch parliament and police and judicial authorities
are concerned. The current minister of justice would even like to see
legislative changes made so that hardline animal rights campaigning
can be dealt with more effectively.
At the end of June this year, a new report on animal rights
campaigning in the Netherlands was published. In the report, the Dutch
AIVD intelligence and security service endeavours to provide an
overview of the Dutch activists who are campaigning against industrial
farming of animals, the fur trade and testing on animals.
Rise
The service notes in the report that there has been a rise in the
number of incidents involving animal rights activists, and the number
of what are known as 'home visits' are causing the organisation
particular concern. These visits involve activists visiting the home
of their intended victim, often in disguise, in order to make threats
against the person or persons in question or to cause actual damage to
their property
The intelligence and security service steers clear of describing the
actions of these activists as terrorism, but it's reported that they
are close to qualifying for just such a label.
Commotion
The report caused quite some commotion in the Dutch parliament's lower
house, with calls going up for tough measures to be taken. One of the
current three government parties, the Christian Democrat CDA, has even
described animal rights activism as a creeping form of terrorism. This
has led the current minister of justice, Ernst Hirsch Ballin, to say
he wants to investigate whether the law can be amended to tackle the
problem better. A section of the lower house would appear to be in
favour of a change that would render making preparations for the overt
use of violence a criminal offence.
No change
Sociologist Hein-Anton van der Heiden of the University of Amsterdam
has been watching the commotion in political circles with mounting
astonishment. He's been following animal rights organisations for many
years and sees no difference whatsoever between what's happening now
and what happened in the past. "I regard the current level of
attention as rather exaggerated."
He goes on to explain:
"What's involved here is, in fact, a relatively small group of perhaps
as few as a couple of dozen people. The comparison with terrorism is
also inaccurate. Terrorists don't have any respect for the lives of
innocent civilians. That's not the case at all with animal activists."
"Furthermore, their acts certainly haven't got any tougher in recent
times. Animal activists have always campaigned in a fairly tough way.
In the past, even lorries have been set fire to, fences destroyed or
test animals set free. These acts are highly similar to those taking
place today."
International
Yet Van der Heiden does note some changes. Animal rights activism has,
for example, become more international. In the past, Dutch activists
were inspired, in some cases even led, by English counterparts.
Nowadays, as the Dutch intelligence services also concludes, Dutch
activists themselves appear to play an important role in campaigns
throughout Europe. The organisation known as Respect voor dieren
(Respect for animals) is said to play a central role in this respect,
and is mentioned specifically in the intelligence service report.
Respect voor dieren is not at all concerned about this, although they
don't really want to get involved in a discussion about the report and
the row in parliament. This is because, as they say themselves, this
won't help the animals in any way. The organisation says the
discussion should address the question of how society treats animals
and now about a report from the Dutch intelligence service.
Nothing to hide
Of course, Respect voor dieren challenges the conclusions reached by
Dutch intelligence. Spokeswoman Nina Kroos says her organisation has
nothing to hide, and that's it's very clear about the limits for its
acts. "No one may injure a human or an animal, that's where the limit
lies," she explains. However, the throwing of a stone or pouring paint
over a car are things which, according to Respect voor dieren, are
acceptable.
"If you see how a small ape's head is cut open," she says,
"or see how many cows are killed each day, or a circus where the
animals are driven totally mad, then you can't compare that with a
stone thrown through a window pane. I think that's then justified.
Look at what's being done to those animals, then make the comparison."
 E-Mail: info@stopdierproeven.org  Website: http://www.stopdierproeven.org
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