UN expert calls for moratorium on killer robots

The United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Christof Heyns on Thursday said the Human Rights Council should call on countries for moratoria on the lethal autonomous robotics (LARs), or so-called "killer robots." "The Human Rights Council should call on all states to declare and implement national moratoria on the production, assembly, transfer, acquisition, deployment and use of LARs until a framework on the future of LARs has been established," he said during the council's 23rd session. Heyns handed in a report to the council on the LARs, in which he also invited the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to convene a high level panel on LARs to articulate a policy for the international community on the issue. LARs have been defined as weapons systems that, once activated, can select and engage targets without further human intervention. While drones have a "human in the loop" who takes the decision to deploy the lethal force, the new technology of LARs involves an on-board computer that takes these decisions on its own. Heyns' report found out that no country is currently using fully autonomous weapons that would classify as LARs, but the technology is already available, or will soon be. A number of countries that are active in this field have committed themselves, for the foreseeable future, not to use LARs. However, it is clear that very strong forces, including technology and budgets, are pushing in the opposite direction, according to Heyns.