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| United Nations Headquarters |
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, MARCH 9, 2005 St. Kitts and Nevis was among 84 nations voting at the United Nations General Assembly Wednesday morning to adopt the United Nations Declaration on Human Cloning, by which Member States were called on to adopt all measures necessary to prohibit all forms of human cloning inasmuch as they are incompatible with human dignity and the protection of human life.
The Assembly adopted the text by a vote of 84 in favour to 34 against, with 37 abstentions.
Other Caribbean nations that joined St. Kitts and Nevis in supporting the declaration were Belize, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago.
Cuba and Jamaica voted against, while the Bahamas and Barbados abstained. Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica were absent when the vote was taken.
Member States were also called on to protect adequately human life in the application of life sciences; to prohibit the application of genetic engineering techniques that may be contrary to human dignity; to prevent the exploitation of women in the application of life sciences; and to adopt and implement national legislation in that connection.
The Declaration adopted was the product of a Working Group established by the Assembly to finalize the text of a United Nations declaration on human cloning, which met in New York last month. Last November, the Sixth Committee averted a divisive vote on the question of an international convention against human reproductive cloning by deciding to take up the issue as a declaration.
Regretting the failure to achieve consensus, several delegations said they had voted against the text because the reference to human life could be interpreted as a call for a total ban on all forms of human cloning.
The Assembly had missed an opportunity to adopt a convention prohibiting reproductive cloning, said the United Kingdom representative, because of the intransigence of those who were not prepared to recognize that other sovereign States might decide to permit strictly controlled applications of therapeutic cloning. Echoing the views of a number of speakers, he said the Declaration was a non-binding political statement, which would not affect his countrys position on the issue.
Those in favour of the Declaration welcomed its adoption, saying it constituted an important step in the protection of human dignity and the promotion of human rights, as well as a stepping stone in the process towards a complete ban on human cloning.
