Nearly 130 countries reach agreement on text governing lethal autonomous weapons

Almost 130 countries reached an accord on Saturday on a text that defines lethal autonomous weapons systems, representing the first phase in potential negotiations toward an international treaty to govern their use. The Dutch government, which has been facilitating the talks in Geneva, announced the agreement among 128 nations. The actual terms of the agreed text have not yet been released publicly, but advocacy organisations monitoring the negotiations have already expressed concerns that powerful countries prevented stronger language from being included. The International Committee of the Red Cross stated that the uncontrolled development and deployment of autonomous weapons systems create significant legal, ethical and humanitarian concerns. Several campaign groups have pushed for binding international rules to limit and control how such weapons are used. Campaigners said the United States, Russia and other allies sought to soften the agreement. Stop Killer Robots, an international campaign alliance, and Lex International, a Geneva-based foundation, both accused certain nations of opposing stronger measures. Brazil, Ireland and Norway have been leading efforts to advance negotiations, which are scheduled to continue in November at talks of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, where member states will decide whether to pursue a formal international treaty.