The document that the Costa Rican government sent this week to the U.N.
headquarters in New York proposes the prohibition of genetic manipulation to
reproduce identical humans or to cultivate human tissue for therapeutic ends.
The initiative from this Central American nation has the backing of 40
countries, including Italy, Spain, United States and most of Latin America, as
well as from some African and Asian nations, said foreign minister Roberto Tovar.
"What we are seeking is a ban on human cloning in all its forms, to
classify it as a crime, punish those who practice it and regulate experiments
that use human genetic material," explained the Costa Rican official.
The 17-page Draft International Convention to Ban Human Cloning in All Its
Forms was officially filed with the U.N. to be translated into the six official
languages of the global forum. It will then be presented to the U.N. membership
to initiate debate.
In making the public announcement Wednesday of the document intended for the
U.N. General Assembly, Tovar said, "Human cloning in all its forms offends
the universal conscience and leads to a loss of our freedom and
individuality."
The reproductive method of cloning produces an embryo from a cell of just one
organism--instead of two parents--by extracting the cell nucleus and inserting
it into another cell. The result is an organism with the identical genetic
makeup as the original organism.
The technique produced its first success in 1996 when a group of scientists
at Scotland's Roslin Institute achieved the birth of the lamb Dolly, the clone
of an adult sheep.
However, the premature ageing of Dolly, which prompted the scientists to
euthanize her in February, indicates that this method of artificial reproduction
still involves many scientific challenges and unanswered questions.
The Costa Rican initiative to ban all types of human cloning is based on the
Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights, which the U.N.
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) approved in 1997 and
the U.N. General Assembly adopted in 1998.
The Declaration establishes limits for the intervention in an individual's
genetic makeup.
The U.N. text also clarifies the notion that the human genome is
"heritage of humanity" and that "Everyone has a right to respect
for their dignity and for their rights regardless of their genetic
characteristics."
Article 11 of the Universal Declaration states: "Practices which are
contrary to human dignity, such as reproductive cloning of human beings, shall
not be permitted."
According to the Costa Rican initiative, meanwhile, a person commits a crime
if he or she deliberately transfers a cell nucleus or divides embryos to create
a living organism "in any state of its physical development, that is
genetically virtually identical to an already existing human organism or one
that has existed previously."
The text calls upon the states that ultimately are party to the agreement to
establish the laws necessary to punish those guilty of such crimes. The
extradition process, international cooperation and dispute settlement measures
are also outlined.
"Cloning is something atrocious, but it wields great power over people's
imaginations," commented biologist Juan de Dios Vial, former president of
the Catholic University of Chile.
It is a "despotic" procedure to control genetic reproduction, which
makes it "instinctively repulsive," commented Vial, who accompanied
Tovar in making the announcement of the Costa Rican initiative.
However, there are scientists who see cloning as a potential alternative for
treating many types of health problems, such as heart disease or liver disease,
because cultivation of genetic material would allow the production of identical
healthy cells to replace damaged cells.
Cloning for medical purposes could also lead the way to finding cures for
terminal illnesses or improve the quality of life of chronically ill
individuals.
"I am against the reproductive cloning of human beings, but I am not
against therapeutic cloning," Delia Rivas, a physician specializing in
research in this scientific area, said in a conversation with IPS.
Rivas worked at the only laboratory in Costa Rica that carried out in vitro
fertilization, until the procedure that was declared unconstitutional and
prohibited in that country in 2000.
"The problem is that those who are against cloning for therapeutic
purposes consider the embryo to be a human being, and that isn't necessarily
so," she said.
An embryo cannot be considered a person, argues Rivas, because even inside
the human womb there is the chance that it will not develop or that it will be
spontaneously aborted.
But biologist Vial, who does see embryos as individuals, responded to
arguments about the advantages of cloning for therapeutic purposes saying that
the process requires creating many embryos that are never utilized.
"It is like manufacturing many human beings so that they die. If we let
this procedure go forward we would be saying to humanity that a living organism
is not always worthy of respect," said Vial.
For approval by the U.N. General Assembly, the Costa Rican-promoted draft
Convention requires the votes of half-plus-one of the delegates present for the
sessions.
"A text was needed that would serve as the basis for the initial
negotiations," said Carlos Fernando Díaz, Costa Rican adviser at the U.N.
and one of the authors of the proposal, which he considers quite flexible.
Díaz told IPS that a ban on all types of cloning would be a way to ensure
human dignity because it would prevent genetic commercialization that could
exploit the poor people of the world.
He said that the countries opposed to a human cloning ban, such as China and
Singapore, point to the need to promote genetic research and development. The
two Asian countries encourage therapeutic cloning as a means to foment economic
development.
Israel and Japan are among the countries that have prohibited human cloning.
In Canada there are efforts underway to implement a ban.
The U.S. Congress, meanwhile, voted in 2001 to ban human cloning for
reproductive purposes and for medical research, with violators of the law facing
penalties of up to 10 years in prison.
Once the war in Iraq is over and tensions in the Persian Gulf have lessened,
experts believe the proposed convention to ban all forms of human cloning could
become one of the leading debates in the international arena.
