UN agrees text on lethal autonomous weapons
Nearly 130 countries on Saturday agreed on a text defining lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS) — “killer robots” to their critics — a first step towards talks on a possible international treaty to regulate them. The text agreed upon has not yet been made public — but campaign groups following the talks have already criticised leading countries for dragging their feet on the issue. Dutch…
A text defining lethal autonomous weapons systems, or "killer robots" as critics refer to them, was agreed upon by nearly 130 countries on Saturday, marking a key step towards potential international treaty discussions. The Netherlands, currently leading the talks, announced the 128-country agreement. Countries are already developing and deploying weapons capable of autonomously selecting targets and engaging in force without human involvement.
However, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), along with various campaigning groups, has expressed serious concerns about the "unconstrained development and use of autonomous weapon systems," citing legal, ethical, and humanitarian challenges. The ICRC and these groups have been advocating for internationally binding rules to restrict and regulate the use of such weapons.
The Stop Killer Robots alliance has specifically accused the United States, Russia, and their allies of attempting to weaken the agreed text. The United States, Russia, India, and Israel are identified as key opponents of these negotiations. On the other hand, Brazil, Ireland, and Norway are leading the effort to initiate talks in November under the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons.
Written by urgent.news from Dawn's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
