UN legal committee tackles proposed treaty banning human cloning
The United Nations has resumed work on an international treaty that would ban the cloning of human beings, tackling work
that last year divided delegates, a spokesperson for the President of the UN General Assembly said today. Michele
Montas, spokesperson for Assembly President Julian Hunte of St. Lucia told a news briefing at UN Headquarters in New
York that last year delegations in the Assembly's Sixth (Legal) Committee were divided roughly in two.
"Some favour a two-step process in which reproductive cloning is banned immediately while the more complicated question
of therapeutic cloning is addressed. Others want both forms banned comprehensively since the technologies are virtually
identical," she said.
"During last year's debate delegate remained divided on the scope of the convention and means to implement it," she
said.
Ms. Montas also reported that the Committee had elected Juan Manuel Gomez Robledo of Mexico as chairman of its ad hoc
committee on the cloning treaty. She said talks in the ad hoc committee would conclude by Friday and a report of its
findings would be presented to the full Legal Committee.