Justice for the Baby Monkeys! [Info and sample letter]

[Guest guest]

[Permission granted to forward]

 

Dear Friends,

 

We are trying to get as many professional, well-written letters as possible

sent to the U.S. Attorney handling the " Air France Baby Monkeys Case. "

Please consider taking just a few minutes to fax or mail a polite letter to

U.S. Attorney Scott R. Lassar requesting that this case be pursued seriously.

Your letter need not be detailed, as long as you explain that you wish to

see justice brought on behalf of the baby monkeys.

 

Many of you are familiar with the International Primate Protection League's

" Air France Baby Monkeys " campaign but I would like to explain why I

believe this case is so important... Several activists have commented to me

that they have " current " issues to work on and that they don't feel it is

a valuable use of time to " dwell on the past. " I suppose that since the

imports of these particular baby monkeys occurred in 1997, it is being

thought of in the mind of many as " let bygones be bygones. "

 

Yes, the actual imports occurred almost four years ago; therefore, it is

now a thing of the past. But -- besides getting justice for these baby

macaques -- what is important is making sure the United States government

enforces the laws intending to protect wildlife. With a case like the " Air

France Baby Monkeys " -- with documented admittances of guilt on the part

of the perpetrators but (to date) no prosecutions -- can you imagine how

seriously the government agencies investigate cases of illegal animal

shipments, or smuggling which are dubious or tainted with shades of gray?!

 

This is a wonderful opportunity to speak up for the animals who depend

on our voices. We can illustrate to the government that the lives of

animals are important and that we do not stand by idly when laws

intending to protect these sentient beings are ignored.

 

Reaction to this case calls to mind a line in Ralph Chaplin's 'Solidarity

Forever', in which he wrote: " Mourn not the dead that in the cool earth

lie --- But rather mourn the apathetic throng - The cowed and the meek -

Who see the world's great anguish and its wrong... And dare not speak. "

 

Appended below is a sample letter. More information on the " Air France

Baby Monkeys " case can be found at http://www.ippl.org/Air_France.htm

and http://www.ippl.org/baby-monkey-case.html

 

For the baby monkeys and all the animals depending on the enforcement

of wildlife laws , " Thank you " for taking the time to make a difference,

 

-Linda

 

------------------Sample letter---------------------

 

Three page facsimile transmission to (312) 353-2067

[Hard copy original sent same date via certified letter]

 

Tuesday, 6 March 2001

 

Scott R. Lassar, United States Attorney

Northern District of Illinois

219 S. Dearborn Street, 5th Floor

Chicago, IL 60604

 

" Air France Baby Monkeys " Case

 

Dear Mr. Lassar,

 

It has been brought to my attention that you are the United States Attorney

handling what is referred to as the " Air France Baby Monkeys " case. I am

writing to request a status update regarding this case, and also to highlight

some points which I think are important in determining culpability.

 

As I am sure you are aware, in April and May 1997, two separate shipments

(each comprised of over 250 monkeys) from CV Inquatex in Indonesia reached

O'Hare Airport, Chicago, USA. Both shipments were cleared by the U.S. Fish

and Wildlife Service despite what they admitted to be " suspicious

circumstances. "

Soon afterwards, a not-for-profit organization, International Primate Protection

League [iPPL] received information from an anonymous source that there were

infant monkeys present in these shipments. IPPL formally requested that the

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Division of Law Enforcement investigate the

matter.

 

Clearly, the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (Sec. 14.105 Title 50, Subchapter

B, Part 14, Subpart J) prohibits the import of unweaned baby mammals; however,

the shipping documents reflect that baby monkeys as young as 3-4 weeks were

shipped from CV Inquatex to the consignee L.A.B.S. of Virginia, a monkey

breeding firm in Yemassee, South Carolina, USA.

 

As a matter of record, the presence of infant monkeys and pregnant females

in the shipment was known well in advance by the management of L.A.B.S.

of Virginia. The Indonesian dealer Argus Darmawan, owner of CV Inquatex,

sent a telefax (cover sheet reproduced below) to Patrick Mehlman, who was

at the time Director of L.A.B.S. of Virginia. Darmawan writes:

 

 

TELEFAX MESSAGE

 

To LABS of Virginia Inc.

From Agus Darmawan

Date March 25, 1997

No. of page 6 including the cover page

 

 

Our Ref. 075/97

 

Dear Dr. Mehlman,

 

This is to inform you that I plan to ship the second shipment contain

of 253 heads cynos on April 8 to Atlanta if confirmed by Air France. Please

rush contact AF at your end.

 

Attached I am supplying you the invoice No. 003/04/97 and the lists of

the cynos for the shipment.

 

In this shipment there are some monkeys that are pregnant in first

stage and as well as mothers with unweaned infant. For me it is OK. However

I want you to make a statement of full responsibility just in case any things

happen with the shipment, such as abortion or death of the baby, and as the

result:

 

A. AIRLINES REFUSE FOR FUTURE CARRIES ALL MY CYNOS.

 

B. PHPA/INDONESIAN GOVERNMENT REFUSE NOT ALLOWED

TO EXPORT THE REMAINING CYNOS.

 

If you insist to make this shipment, it will be completely at your

risk.

 

Looking forward to your prompt response.

 

My best regard,

Agus Darmawan

 

---------- End of Darmawan TeleFax Reproduction ---------------

 

 

The document reproduced immediately above (cover page only) is Plaintiff's

Exhibit 8 in the Mehlman/Lilly vs L.A.B.S. of Virginia lawsuit filed in Hampton

County, South Carolina.

 

Further supporting the notion that key officials of L.A.B.S. of Virginia had

advance knowledge that the expected shipments of monkeys from CV Inquatex

were in violation of the law is Plaintiff's Exhibit 52 in the Mehlman/Lilly vs

L.A.B.S. of Virginia lawsuit.

 

Exhibit 52 is a memorandum from Director of L.A.B.S. of Virginia, Patrick

Mehlman to David Taub who was at the time President of L.A.B.S. of Virginia.

In the memorandum dated 27 April 1997, Mehlman writes to Taub: " Just

wanted to make sure that you ended up with a copy of the memo from Agus

Darmawan dated March 25, 1997, in which he asks me to write a letter of

full responsibility. I do not feel authorized to write such a letter and I

defer

to you and management to respond to this request. "

 

In March of 2000, IPPL requested that its members write to the U.S. Fish

and Wildlife Service regarding the " Air France Baby Monkeys " case since

no action had been taken by the agency in over three years since its inception.

 

Following below is an excerpt from a response to a letter by the Humane

Education Network in Menlo Park, California from Kevin Adams, Chief of

the Division of Law Enforcement for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service:

 

" We can, of course, appreciate your organization's frustration with the

apparent lack of progress in what may, on the surface, appear to be an

" open and shut " case. The investigation of unlawful primate importations,

however, is a difficult and complex task, and wildlife crimes are not always

a priority for other components of our legal system. "

 

Mr. Lassar, with only one year remaining before the statue of limitations for

this case runs out, I feel obliged to ask if indeed this is considered " an open

and shut case " and despite Adams' assertions, I would appreciate receiving

confirmation from your office that wildlife crimes are properly prioritized in

our legal system. With very few laws to protect animals, I shall hope that the

few laws which do exist are enforced to the extent that the law allows.

 

Please do not hesitate to let me know if you would like copies of the originals

of the court exhibits referenced in this letter, or copies of other exhibits

from

the Mehlman/Lilly lawsuit which may assist you in prosecuting this case to

the fullest extent allowed by law.

 

Thank you in advance for your time and prompt reply,

Sincerely,

 

 

 

Linda J. Howard

 

 

cc: Eric H. Holder, Jr., Deputy Attorney General

United States Department of Justice

950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20530-0001

 

cc: Gale A. Norton, Secretary of the Interior

U.S. Department of the Interior

1849 C. Street N.W.

Washington, DC 20240

 

cc: House Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Crime Majority

Members Lamar S. Smith; Mark Green; Bob Goodlatte; Steve Chabot;

Bob Barr; Asa Hutchinson; Ric Keller

207 Cannon House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515

 

cc: House Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Crime Minority

Members Robert C. Scott; Anthony Weiner; Sheila Jackson-Lee; Martin

T. Meehan; William D. Delahunt

111 Cannon House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515