Diplomats in Geneva debate on killer robots

Diplomats in Geneva on Monday, began debating possible restrictions for fully autonomous weapons systems, so-called killer robots.

The question was whether governments should start negotiations on an international treaty or other binding rules.

Dozens of countries wanted a ban on weapons that were not decisively controlled by humans and ultimately targeted and attacked their targets themselves with the help of artificial intelligence.

On behalf of around 120 non-aligned countries, Venezuela called for legally binding rules.

Countries with major arms industries were opposed.

The new German government had vowed to pursue binding international rules that would outlaw such weapons.

Efforts for a set of rules were underway within the framework of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW).

A working group had been exploring the possibilities for a legally binding set of rules since 2014.

In 2019, the group agreed on general principles for dealing with such weapons. However, the attempt to propose a mandate for negotiations to the CCW states failed last week, mainly due to Russia's opposition.

Other countries were also opposed, including India, Israel and the United States. China had kept a low profile in the consultations. The CCW must decide unanimously.

If there was no outcome, non-governmental organisations wanted to seek a convention outside the CCW to outlaw such weapons, similar to what was done for cluster munitions or landmines.

However, the important countries that had and pushed the technology would not be part of it.