The Chargé d’affairs of Iraq to the United Nations Office in Geneva Delivers the Arab Group’s Statement in Meeting of Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems

The Chargé d’affaires a.i. at the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Iraq to the United Nations in Geneva, Dr. Abbas Kadhim Obaid gave the Arab Group’s statement at the meeting of the Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (LAWS), in which he affirmed that LAWS raises a number of ethical, legal and technical issues, in addition to issues related to international peace and security stating that it is imperative that the group of governmental experts discuss them thoroughly in a context consistent with international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law, with the aim of developing the necessary legal framework to deal with these systems, calling for the development of legally binding provisions to address the humanitarian and international security challenges related to emerging technologies in the field of lethal autonomous weapons systems, adding that these provisions could include prohibiting and restricting these systems within the framework of a prohibition agreement, or restricting the use of certain conventional weapons.

The Chargé d’affairs also stressed the importance of human control over the critical tasks of these weapons, preventing their negative effects, and taking into account the risks of these types of weapons falling into the hands of terrorist groups, in addition to the risks of their proliferation.