Case number 06/2015: Surabaya Zoo

JUDGMENT AND ETHICAL CONCLUSION

Dear Prosecutor, Executive Secretary and Members of the Jury of the International Buddhist Ethics Committee (IBEC) and Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights (BTHR), in respect of the case reported by the International Association of Maitriyana (IAM) against the Surabaya Zoo, by means of this document, on September 1, 2015, I confirm that it is concluded the sixth case of the Buddhist Tribunal in order to analyze the Animal Rights violation by the Surabaya Zoo in Indonesia.

After the enormous amount of evidence presented and certified as valid, it has proceeded to the voting of 3 members of the Jury, confirming that the three of them have sentenced as “Responsible” to the Surabaya Zoo for serious crime of Mistreatment, Torture and Animal Neglect. Given that these actions violate the ethical precepts of Buddhism, such as abstaining from harming other sentient beings, it was considered that the Surabaya Zoo completely violates the Animal Rights of thousands of living beings and it is also an aberration how they mistreat and torture animals with respect to any other zoo in the world. In fact, every zoo is inherently an oppressive system that violates the principles of Buddhist Spirituality, though in this case it is being committed an additional morbidity through a clear torture, abuse and neglect of animals.

Therefore, the International Buddhist Ethics Committee and Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights rules that the Spirituality created by Master Siddharta Gautama, as a way of engagement with the salvation of all sentient beings, must to denounce the Surabaya Zoo as Torturer, by recommending simultaneously both to the Indonesian government and to the international community the Zoo’s permanent closure. This understanding demonstrates that mistreatment of animals is a crime as important as the torture of human beings, reason why any world peace project should include ecological harmony with the rest of the species that inhabit the great body of Mother Earth (Gaia).

Following in the footsteps of the Master Siddhartha Gautama, the International Buddhist Ethics Committee and Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights has decided to proceed against the Surabaya Zoo for mistreating, torturing and neglecting animals, reason by which testimonies and photographic evidence have been studied, proving that all these crimes violate the Rights of Animals.

Cordially,

With spirit of reconciliation (maitri),

Buddhist Master Maitreya

Spiritual Guide and President of International Buddhist Ethics Committee (IBEC) & Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights (BTHR)