Talks on Killer Robots to Continue

The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots welcomes the decision taken by nations at the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) at the United Nations in Geneva today to continue their deliberations on “lethal autonomous weapons systems.” The decision is an important acknowledgement of the legal, technical, ethical, operational, and societal concerns that have been raised. The broad consensus expressed for continuing the talks shows it is clear that “doing nothing” in the face of ever-greater autonomy in warfare is not an option.

Most of the 118 states that are part of the Convention on Conventional Weapons are expected to participate in the 2015 talks on lethal autonomous weapons systems to be held at the UN in Geneva on 13-17 April. Adopted in 1980, this framework convention has five protocols relating to various weapons, including Protocol IV pre-emptively banning blinding lasers.

The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots supports any action to urgently address fully autonomous weapons in any forum. For example, the Human Rights Council should consider the possible use of fully autonomous weapons outside of armed conflict, such as in law enforcement.

For more information, see:

• Campaign to Stop Killer Robots report on activities, statement, press release, delegation list, video, CCW backgrounder
• Press releases by Human Rights Watch, Article 36, PAX and ICRC Q & A, UNIDIR briefing paper
• Media coverage by The New York Times, Business Insider, The Guardian, The Telegraph, RT, Newstalk Florida, Mondiaal (Dutch)
• Report of the annual CCW meeting, including 2015 mandate decision
• Reaching Critical Will webpage, including statements
• UN webpage on lethal autonomous weapons systems, 2014 CCW experts meeting chair’s report