UN Secretary-General António Guterres and International Committee of the Red Cross President Mirjana Spoljaric Egger renewed their call in a joint statement for clear bans and restrictions to prevent machines from selecting people as targets on their own.
The statement said the call made three years ago was being repeated with even greater urgency, noting that advances in weapons technology had outpaced legal frameworks. It warned that technological developments risked crossing a moral boundary.
Warning of risks to civilians and infrastructure
The statement said the gap between technological capabilities and regulatory restrictions was widening. It noted that advanced technologies used on battlefields increased the risk of harm to civilians and civilian infrastructure.
It said the development and use of autonomous weapon systems could reduce human control over the use of force, creating a risk of further escalation. It also assessed that a race for greater autonomy in weapon systems had begun and that these technologies did not belong to some distant future.
The statement also identified risks for the scientists and engineers working on these systems and called for limits to be placed on the designers of the technology. It stressed that countries could not afford to remain passive.
Call for negotiations at the November conference
It said important groundwork had been established through the UN General Assembly and the Group of Governmental Experts under the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons. Citing progress toward a common understanding, it listed the goals of preserving human judgment and control, ensuring compliance with international humanitarian law, addressing ethical concerns and reducing human suffering.
States were urged to show political courage, move beyond incremental discussions and take decisive action. The statement called for the urgent launch of negotiations on a legally binding mechanism that would regulate autonomous weapon systems through clear bans and restrictions.
It said the Seventh Review Conference of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, to be held in November, was one of the clearest opportunities for countries to decide to negotiate a legally binding instrument. It noted that the work of the past three years had laid the foundation for these negotiations and that the opportunity should not be missed.
The statement warned that failing to act quickly and decisively could result in loss of life. It said the absence of clear and specific bans and restrictions could create space for practices that weaken the protections international humanitarian law is meant to provide. It stressed that technological innovation must serve humanity.
