On behalf of ICT4Peace, Regina Surber and Emanuel Teicher participated at the 2019 Group on Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS) at the UN in Geneva, 25-29 March 2019.
It was the seventh CCW meeting on LAWS since the topic was taken up by the international arms control community in 2014, and the fourth meeting within a formal GGE.
The meeting was opened by a welcoming address by UN-Secretary General Antonio Guterres (presented by Director General of the UNOG Michael Møller), which included the following message:
“Machines with the power and discretion to take lives without human involvement are politically unacceptable, morally repugnant and should be prohibited by international law.”
During the week-long meeting, the GGE continued its discussions on (1) the potential challenges posed by emerging technologies in the area of LAWS to IHL, (2) the characterization of LAWS in order to promote a common understanding of concepts and characteristics relevant to the objectives and purposes of the CCW; (3) the consideration of the human element in the use of lethal force; aspects of human-machine interaction in the development, deployment and use of emerging technologies in the area of LAWS; and (4) the possible options for addressing the humanitarian and international security challenges posed by emerging technologies in the area of.
The full report by ICT4Peace’s Regina Surber on this meeting can be found here.