US embassy cable - 05PARIS4304

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