UN, 5 Oct. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the head of the International The Red Cross Committee (ICRC) Mirjana Spoljaric is calling on political leaders to introduce a ban on the use of autonomous weapons — weapons that can independently decide to kill a living target, the UN said in a commentary.
“Today, in a joint address, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mirjana Spoljaric, call on political leaders to urgently establish new international rules regarding autonomous weapons systems to protect humanity,” the commentary said.
The United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) call on states to “establish specific bans and restrictions on autonomous weapons systems to protect current and future generations from the consequences of their use.” In the current conditions, the establishment of clear international red lines will benefit all states, the UN believes.
Autonomous weapons systems — generally understood as weapons systems that select targets and apply force without human intervention — pose serious humanitarian, legal, ethical and security challenges, the UN secretary-general and head of the ICRC said in a statement.
«Their development and spread could potentially significantly change the way wars are fought and contribute to global instability and increased international tension,» the statement said.
«We must act now to maintain human control over the use of force. Human control must be maintained when making life and death decisions. Autonomous attack by machines on humans is a moral line we must not cross. Machines with power and the right to take lives without human participation must be prohibited by international law,” the statement emphasizes.