UN meeting targets 'killer robots'
14 May 2014 – The top United Nations official in Geneva has urged bold action by diplomats at the start of the world
body's first ever meeting on Lethal Autonomous Weapons (LAWS), better known as “killer robots,” telling them: “You have
the opportunity to take pre-emptive action and ensure that the ultimate decision to end life remains firmly under human
control.”
The remarks were made yesterday by Michael Møller, Acting Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, at
the opening session of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) Meeting of Experts on Lethal Autonomous
Weapons Systems taking place this week at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
Ambassador Jean-Hugues Simon-Michel of France, who is chairing the four-day expert meeting, noted: “Lethal autonomous
weapons systems are a challenging emerging issue on the disarmament agenda right now,”
The four days of discussions will focus on technological developments, the ethical and sociological questions that arise
from the development and deployment of autonomous weapons, as well as the adequacy and legal challenges to international
law and the possible impact on military operations, according to the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (ODA).
The Geneva meeting has attracted record attendance by States, UN organizations, the International Committee of the Red
Cross and non-governmental organisations, ODA said.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon took note of “killer robots” in his report on the Protection of Civilians in Armed
Conflict issued in November 2013, saying important questions have been raised as to the ability of such systems to
operate in accordance with international humanitarian and human rights law.
“Is it morally acceptable to delegate decisions about the use of lethal force to such systems? If their use results in a
war crime or serious human rights violation, who would be legally responsible? If responsibility cannot be determined as
required by international law, is it legal or ethical to deploy such systems,?” he asked.
The Secretary-General went on to say: “Although autonomous weapons systems have not yet been deployed and the extent of
their development as a military technology remains unclear, discussion of such questions must begin immediately and not
once the technology has been developed and proliferated.”
While noting the Meeting of Experts was only a first step towards addressing lethal autonomous weapons, Acting
Director-General Møeller urged the delegates gathered in Geneva to take bold action.
“All too often international law only responds to atrocities and suffering once it has happened,' Mr. Moeller said and
noted that Geneva has had “a historical record that is second to none for achieving results in disarmament and
international humanitarian law negotiations."
The outcomes of the Geneva discussions will be submitted to the formal conference of the Convention on Certain
Conventional Weapons in November 2014, where States will discuss possible next steps on autonomous weapons.
The purpose of the Convention is to ban or restrict the use of specific types of weapons that are considered to cause
unnecessary or unjustifiable suffering to combatants or to affect civilians indiscriminately.
Currently 117 States are parties to the Convention.
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