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Science Diplomacy

U.N., Red Cross warn autonomous weapons nearing a ‘moral red line’

Renewed appeal seeks binding prohibitions as governments approach a decision on whether to launch negotiations.

,   and  Arete News Staff
3 min read
A U.S. Marine Corps lance corporal and rifleman flies an unmanned aircraft system at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, on Jan. 17, 2023.
A U.S. Marine Corps lance corporal and rifleman flies an unmanned aircraft system at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, on Jan. 17, 2023. The U.S. military says the integration of unmanned aircraft systems into infantry units aims to make the Marine Corps more lethal and effective on a small unit level. (U.S. Marine Corps/Cpl. Michael Virtue)

GENEVA (AN) — The United Nations and International Committee of the Red Cross warned that autonomous weapons are bringing the world “dangerously close to crossing a moral red line,” urging governments to begin negotiating legally binding restrictions as the technology becomes cheaper and more widely available.

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres and ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric renewed a three-year-old joint appeal on Tuesday as governments prepare to resume talks in Geneva next week on lethal autonomous weapons systems.

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Science Diplomacy — Global Issues — United Nations — International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) — Switzerland — Ukraine — Russia — U.N. Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) 1983 — U.N. Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA)

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