U.N. and Red Cross step up call for international rules on 'killer robot' weapons systems

GENEVA — The United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross on Tuesday ratcheted up a joint call for countries to adopt bans and restrictions on use of autonomous weapons systems – often known as “killer robots” – warning that “the risks have intensified.”

Building on an initial appeal three years ago and international talks on the issue for years, the appeal stops short of calling for a blanket ban, but notes that such weapons systems are being developed – though the U.N. and Red Cross haven’t confirmed their use on the battlefield.

The organizations said, however, that civilians need to be protected for when that day may come.

“We are now dangerously close to crossing a moral red line: The autonomous targeting of humans by machines,” said U.N. Geneva spokesperson Alessandra Vellucci, reading a joint statement by U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres and ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric.

“Today, we renew this call with even greater urgency,” the statement said. “The fundamental concerns remain unchanged, but the risks have intensified.”

The two international organizations say the development of weapons technology at “record speed” has strained the international rules system, and widened the gap between technological capacities and regulatory constraints.

“Autonomous weapons systems are not part of a distant future – a race toward greater autonomy in weapons systems is already well underway,” the joint statement said.

The call comes as negotiators are set to meet in Geneva in November on ways of strengthening the existing Convention on Conventional Weapons, with the U.N. and ICRC saying the conference “offers the clearest path available” to move toward binding legal rules on the use of such autonomous systems.

The yearslong effort to rein in the use of autonomous weapons systems has struggled to produce limits. The new push comes against the backdrop of drones and other technologies used in conflicts as diverse as the Russia-Ukraine war, the Middle East, Sudan and others.

Ground robotic vehicles have so far been used on the Ukrainian battlefield primarily to ferry supplies to infantry and carry out evacuations, because of Ukraine’s need to preserve manpower amid the growing prevalence of drones.

Kyiv is now seeking to scale up armed robotic systems to reduce the pressure on increasingly outnumbered infantry by equipping them with firing power, but those efforts have been limited so far.

“Scientists and engineers developing these systems have themselves raised the alarm,” the organizations said. “When the architects of this technology are calling for limits, states cannot afford to remain passive.”

“This year must mark a turning point,” the statement said.

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Samya Kullab contributed to this report from Kyiv, Ukraine.