States Reach Consensus on Autonomous Weapons Document in Geneva

GENEVA, Sept 5 (Reuters) – On Saturday, the 128 countries party to a framework that governs or prohibits weapons regarded as indiscriminate or inflicting excessive injuries adopted a document that could open the way for international regulations on autonomous weapons.

This non-binding accord marks a significant milestone after more than a decade of discussions on managing weapons systems that can identify and engage targets with varying degrees of autonomy, sometimes known as "killer robots."

However, one rights organization argued that the text's definition of an autonomous weapon and the measures intended to reduce its potential harmful effects on civilians appear to have been diluted.

"It's a real shame that all the work done by states on the text over the past three years has been substantially weakened in the last hours," Nicole van Rooijen, executive director at Stop Killer Robots, told Reuters.

The member states of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons had convened this week in Geneva and reached consensus overnight.

The agreement comes as alarm grows over the use of lethal autonomous weapons systems in conflicts, including those in Ukraine, Sudan, and the Middle East. The document, reached by consensus, is non-binding but could pave the way for formal treaty negotiations.

Negotiations extended late into the night to overcome differences over language, amid opposition from states such as the United States and Russia.

The U.S. and Russia favor national guidelines over internationally binding rules. Washington sought flexibility in the non-binding text, including in areas related to exercising human judgment.