UN and Red Cross call for international rules on autonomous weapons systems

GENEVA (AP) — The United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross on Tuesday ratcheted up a joint call for countries to adopt bans and restrictions on use of autonomous weapons systems — often known as 'killer robots' — warning that 'the risks have intensified.'

Building on an initial appeal three years ago and international talks on the issue for years, the appeal stops short of calling for a blanket ban, but notes that such weapons systems are being developed — though the U.N. and Red Cross haven’t confirmed their use on the battlefield.

The organizations said, however, that civilians need to be protected for when that day may come. 'We are now dangerously close to crossing a moral red line: The autonomous targeting of humans by machines,' said U.N. Geneva spokesperson Alessandra Vellucci, reading a joint statement by U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres and ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric.

The call comes as negotiators are set to meet in Geneva in November on ways of strengthening the existing Convention on Conventional Weapons, with the U.N. and ICRC saying the conference 'offers the clearest path available' to move toward binding legal rules on the use of such autonomous systems.