UN drops efforts to prohibit human cloning
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-11-21 14:59

The UN General Assembly's legal committee decided Friday to abandon its efforts to draft an international convention banning the cloning of human beings as its 191 member states remain widely apart over therapeutic cloning after four years of debate.

The photo shows a human embryo resulting from human DNA nucleus transfer technology. The UN General Assembly's legal committee decided Friday to abandon its efforts to draft an international convention banning the cloning of human beings. [AFP]

The committee averted a divisive vote late Friday on the question of an international convention against human reproductive cloning by deciding not to take action on two proposals offered by Cost Rica and Belgium respectively.

"This question of cloning is concern and cause of anguish to some, given the manipulation of human life. But it gives hopes to others, given the prospect of saving lives," said Mohamed Bennouna,Moroccan Ambassador to the UN and head of the legal committee.

"It will be unbearable for the international community to be divided over an issue like cloning," he added.

Costa Rica's proposal, supported by the United States and 61 other countries, called for the prohibition of all forms of human cloning, including the cloning of human embryos for the purpose of medical research.

The other text, tabled by Belgium and backed by 21 other nations, also favored banning the cloning of human beings for the reproductive purpose. But it would leave governments to decide whether to prohibit therapeutic cloning, such as human embryonic stem cell research.

As a compromise between the pros and cons of therapeutic cloning, the legal committee will adopt a non-binding political declaration next year calling on all governments to prohibit any attempts to clone human beings.

Bennouna said the compromise, as proposed by Italy, enjoyed "general support."

The committee will establish a working group, to be headed by Bennouna, in February to draft the declaration on the basis of a text introduced by Italy. The committee is scheduled to adopt the declaration on Feb. 18.

The Italian text calls on all countries to adopt and implement national legislation prohibiting attempts to "create human life through cloning processes" and to ensure respect for human life inthe application of science, particularly by barring the exploitation of women.

However, diplomats said proponents and opponents of therapeuticcloning have different interpretations of the term "human life," with the latter maintaining that it covers cloned human embryos.

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