Belgium will be chairing a group of government experts (GGE) on emerging technologies in the field of lethal autonomous weapon systems (LAWS), or so-called "Killer Robots", foreign affairs officials announced on Thursday.
The group of experts aims to clarify the legal, technological, and military issues raised by these robots, in particular with regard to international humanitarian law within the framework of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons in Geneva.
"Belgium played a leading role in the group's work, in particular by proposing a guiding principle on human-machine interaction, which today represents the cornerstone of the future normative and operational framework," the FPS Foreign Affairs said in a press release.
At the end of 2019, the GGE adopted eleven guiding principles with a view to establishing a normative and operational framework on LAWS.
As chair of this group, Belgium will aim to “deepen the discussions on the substance with a view to reaching consensual recommendations on this framework in 2021, in accordance with the mandate of the GGE,” the FPS Foreign Affairs said.
The European Union has said that all weapons systems must be developed and used in respect of international law, including International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law.
The meeting is scheduled to meet in Geneva between 6 and 14 May and will bring together 121 states.
Lauren Walker
The Brussels Times
