FRENCH VIEWS ON UNESCO BIOETHICS DECLARATION

UNCLAS PARIS 004304 SIPDIS STATE FOR IO/T WINNIE ROBERTS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: TBIO FR UNESCO KSCI SUBJECT: FRENCH VIEWS ON UNESCO BIOETHICS DECLARATION Ref: State 109242 ¶1. On June 16, Embassy Paris Acting Science Counselor met with Ambassador Gabriel Keller, who will be heading the GOF delegation to the June 20-24 negotiating session in Paris. Ambassador Keller mentioned that his delegation will include representatives from the Foreign Ministry, the Health Ministry, the Cooperation Ministry (USAID-equivalent),and subject-matter experts from the French mission to UNESCO and from the French National Bioethics Advisory Commission (CCNE). ¶2. Regarding UNESCO's draft declaration on bioethics, Keller noted that, while it is true that the preliminary draft declaration is not agreed text, it is the result of two years of discussions with member state representatives. ¶3. In general terms, Keller said that the French position on negotiating this text is pragmatic with a "spirit of compromise" on issues about which some countries feel very strongly. One such issue is the mention of the environment and/or sustainable development. Keller said that France is flexible on this issue, but he believes that countries from the southern hemisphere, i.e. developing countries -- particularly those countries from Latin America -- feel very strongly about this. Keller agrees that the focus of the declaration is and should be bioethics as they pertain to human biology and human health, but France is willing to "pay lip service" to the environment and sustainable development in order to achieve a consensus. ¶4. Keller saw no problem with inclusion of "respect for human life" in the declaration. However, he noted that many countries have a problem with the Costa Rican amendment, which advocates "full respect for human health." Keller thought the core of the problem came from the French and Spanish translations of the word "full" to "absolut" or "absoluto" which would conflict with both abortion and the death penalty. ¶5. Keller mentioned that he had already been in touch with the U.S. Ambassador to UNESCO on these issues and appreciated the opportunity to iron out differences beforehand. He also looked forward to working with the U.S. delegation next week. WOLFF