• Killer Robots

    Fully autonomous weapons, also known as "killer robots," would be able to select and engage targets without human intervention. Fully autonomous weapons do not exist yet, but they are being developed by several countries and precursors to fully autonomous weapons have already been deployed by high-tech militaries. Some experts predict that fully autonomous weapons could be operational in 20 to 30 years. These weapons would be incapable of meeting international humanitarian law standards, including the rules of distinction, proportionality, and military necessity. The weapons would not be constrained by the capacity for compassion, which can provide a key check on the killing of civilians. Fully autonomous weapons also raise serious questions of accountability because it is unclear who should be held responsible for any unlawful actions they commit. Human Rights Watch calls for a preemptive prohibition on fully autonomous weapons.

  • The United Kingdom’s Taranis combat aircraft, whose prototype was unveiled in 2010, is designed to strike distant targets, “even in another continent.” While the Ministry of Defence has stated that humans will remain in the loop, the Taranis exemplifies the move toward increased autonomy.
    © 2010 AP Photo
    Ban ‘Killer Robots’ Before It’s Too Late

    Governments should pre-emptively ban fully autonomous weapons because of the danger they pose to civilians in armed conflict.

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Arms

  • US: Statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee on "Targeted Killing"
    Apr 23, 2013
    On April 23, 2013, the US Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Human Rights held a hearing entitled “Drone Wars: The Constitutional and Counterterrorism Implications of Targeted Killing”. Letta Tayler, Senior Researcher in the Terrorism/Counterterrorism Division submitted the following testimony for the record.
  • Arms: New Campaign to Stop Killer Robots
    Apr 23, 2013

    Civil society will lead the way to press governments to ban fully autonomous weapons

  • Why So Many Syrians Wish For Rain
    Apr 16, 2013
    Life in Aleppo is not easy. People here have suffered from shortages of food, electricity and running water, and there has been little humanitarian assistance. The long, cold winter months were particularly rough. The only possible consolation was that there were fewer air strikes because of the cloudy, rainy weather. The government’s jets only seem to fly – and drop bombs – when the sky is blue.
  • US: Ban Fully Autonomous Weapons
    Apr 16, 2013

    Temporary US restrictions on lethal fully autonomous weapons should be strengthened and made permanent.

  • Review of the 2012 US Policy on Autonomy in Weapons Systems
    Apr 15, 2013

    On November 21, 2012, the US Department of Defense issued its first public policy on autonomy in weapons systems. Directive Number 3000.09 (the Directive) lays out guidelines for the development and use of autonomous and semi-autonomous weapon systems by the Department of Defense.

  • Syria: Aerial Attacks Strike Civilians
    Apr 10, 2013
    The Syrian Air Force has repeatedly carried out indiscriminate, and in some cases deliberate, air strikes against civilians. These attacks are serious violations of international humanitarian law (the laws of war), and people who commit such violations with criminal intent are responsible for war crimes.
  • US: Move Drone Strike Program to Military
    Mar 21, 2013
    A reported plan to transfer the United States targeted killing program from the Central Intelligence Agency to the Defense Department could improve transparency and accountability, though a number of other concerns with the program would remain.
  • Syria: Mounting Casualties from Cluster Munitions
    Mar 16, 2013

    Syrian forces’ use of cluster munitionsin residential areas is causing mounting civilian casualties. An initial review of available information has identified at least 119 locations across Syriawhere at least 156 cluster bombs have been used in the past six months.  

  • Time for US to embrace ban on landmines
    Mar 4, 2013

    The US is already acting like it has given up antipersonnel landmines – so why doesn't Nobel peace laureate Barack Obama turn it into formally declared policy by ratifying the Mine Ban Treaty?

     

  • United States: The Time has Come to Ban Landmines
    Mar 1, 2013

    The Obama administration, which is poised to make a decision on future US policy on landmines, should at long last embrace the ban on antipersonnel landmines.

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