The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called for members to establish a plan that imposes “restrictions on the use of certain types of autonomous weapons” at the start of the Review Conference.
After an international report claiming the first autonomous military drone attack occurred in Libya in March 2020, the UN chief made the statement. While it’s not clear if anyone died from the autonomous weapon system (LAWS), it was a significant development in warfare.
“I encourage the Review Conference to agree on an ambitious plan for the future to establish restrictions on the use of certain types of autonomous weapons,” Guterres said.
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Since 2008, UN negotiators had been discussing LAWS concerns. Guterres hopes to achieve progress in five days.
Currently, 125 parties have signed up to the UN’s Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, including the US, China and Israel. Some signatories however want it expanded to include a complete ban on LAWS.
“The pace of technology is really beginning to outpace the rate of diplomatic talks,”Clare Conboy, of Stop Killer Robots organisation, argued that these talks were dangerous. “a historic opportunity for states to take steps to safeguard humanity.”
However, the United States’ opposition might slow down progress in the negotiations. President Joe Biden has refused to sign an international binding agreement to regulate the so-called “sea of terror” “killer robots.”The US stated at the time that it preferred a “non-binding code of conduct”At the moment.
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