UN states agree on definition of autonomous weapon systems

The United Nations has achieved initial success in its efforts to restrict autonomous weapon systems. After years of discussion, 128 countries agreed in Geneva on a definition of the weapons also known as killer robots. Dutch Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen reported on the agreement on X, calling it an important step in regulating such systems as military technology rapidly advances. To date, there is no treaty regulating autonomous and AI-supported weapons.

The contracting states met in Geneva during the week. Negotiations took place within the framework of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW). It restricts and prohibits weapons that do not distinguish between combatants and civilians or cause unnecessary suffering. The document is not legally binding, but could open the way to formal contract negotiations. The text has not yet been published.

The agreement comes at a time of growing concern about the use of autonomous systems in military conflicts, including in Ukraine, Sudan and the Middle East.

ICRC and Guterres are pushing for legally binding rules

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warns that the development and use of autonomous weapons systems outside a clear, restrictive framework raises serious legal, ethical and humanitarian questions. Together with several civil society organizations, the committee is therefore pushing for legally binding rules. Unpredictable autonomous weapons and those designed to directly exert violence against people should be banned.

At the end of August, ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric, together with UN Secretary-General António Guterres, renewed her corresponding demand from 2023 with greater urgency: the international community is dangerously close to crossing a moral red line, namely the autonomous targeting of people by machines.

The USA and Russia are apparently making changes

Nicole van Rooijen, executive director of the international campaign Stop Killer Robots, said that in addition to the definition, the document also addresses the application of international humanitarian law to these weapons and reiterates the need for essential human control. At the same time, van Rooijen complained to the Reuters news agency that the states' work over three years had been significantly watered down in the last few hours. According to their organization, this affects the definition of autonomous weapons as well as the precautions against possible harm to civilians.

The negotiations dragged on until late into the night because the USA and Russia, among others, resisted individual formulations. Both countries prefer national guidelines to internationally binding rules. In the non-binding text, the US government pushed for leeway, including in the exercise of human judgment. In addition to Russia and the USA, Israel is also opposed to concrete agreements on killer robots.