States must immediately begin developing legally binding rules governing the use of autonomous weapons systems, including drones. As reported by the UN, this joint appeal was issued by UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Mirjana Spoljaric, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), reports UNN.
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According to them, the world is rapidly approaching a dangerous threshold beyond which a machine will be able to independently select a person as a target—and this is an "ethically unacceptable situation."
Guterres and Spoljaric recalled that three years ago they had already called on countries to establish prohibitions and restrictions on such systems. Since then, technology has been developing so rapidly that the gap between weapons' capabilities and existing legal norms has only widened. The use of advanced autonomous systems on the battlefield increases risks to civilians and infrastructure, exacerbating human suffering in armed conflicts, the appeal states.
In the view of the appeal's authors, further development of autonomous weapons will lead to escalation and a weakening of human control over the use of force. The race toward increasingly autonomous systems is already under way, and, as noted, even the engineers creating these technologies are expressing concern. "If even the creators of this technology are calling for its limitation, states cannot afford to remain on the sidelines," the appeal emphasizes.
Guterres and Spoljaric believe that this year must be a turning point. Significant progress has already been made in the UN General Assembly and in the Group of Governmental Experts of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons in understanding what human control should be exercised and what measures are necessary to ensure compliance with international humanitarian law. Now, in their view, political will must be demonstrated: the time has come to move from discussions to action.
The heads of the UN and the ICRC called on states to begin negotiations on adopting a legally binding treaty with clearly defined restrictions and prohibitions. Delay, they warn, will lead to even greater loss of human life.
Particular attention in the appeal is devoted to the upcoming Seventh Review Conference of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, which will take place in November. Guterres and Spoljaric hope that states will be able to adopt a decision to launch negotiations on a legally binding document.
"The painstaking work carried out over the past three years provides an ideal foundation for such negotiations," the appeal states.
Guterres and Spoljaric emphasize that continuing to develop weapons that make warfare easier undermines collective efforts to create a safer world. Innovation, they say, must serve humanity rather than threaten it.