Anushka Sharma-

Published on: December 3, 2021 at 14:50 IST

Washington suggested a “code of conduct” to the United Nations instead of a binding agreement regulating or prohibiting the deployment of weaponry nicknamed “killer robots.”

A US official scoffed at the concept of limiting the deployment of such “lethal autonomous weapons” through a “legally-binding instrument” during a meeting in Geneva aimed at establishing common ground. Government specialists met to prepare for high-level discussions at a review conference on the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, which will take place from December 13 to 17.

“We believe that the best way to achieve progress… is to draught a non-binding code of conduct,” US official Josh Dorosin said during the meeting.

Since 2017, the United Nations has hosted diplomatic talks in Geneva aiming at establishing a consensus on how to deal with the use of killer robots.

Activists in a number of countries have demanded an outright ban on any weapon that may employ fatal force without a human overseeing the process and issuing the final kill order.

In November 2018, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres supported the call for a ban, but governments have yet to agree on whether the weapons need to be regulated.

Several countries, notably India and the United States, criticised the idea of a legally binding pact during Thursday’s debate.

A code of conduct, according to Dorosin, “would assist states in promoting responsible behaviour and compliance with international law.”

Campaigners disagreed.“States have a historic opportunity to ensure meaningful human control over the use of force and prevent a world in which machines make life and death decisions,” Clare Conboy of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots told AFP.

“An independent process to negotiate new law on killer robots would be more effective and inclusive than the current diplomatic talks,” Bonnie Docherty, a senior arms researcher at HRW, said in a statement.

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