125 States and many NGOs gathered for the UN summit in Geneva. On the agenda was the need to make decisions to regulate the use of combat drones. After eight years of discussions, the summit ended in failure: no agreement was found, according to the Daily Sabah.
No agreement between the UN and the 125 states
On December 17, 2021, a large part of the States of the planet and many NGOs were present in Geneva to try to find a solution on the issue of combat drones. The UN’s objective was very clear: it became essential to “To legislate at the international level on the use of these killer robots”.
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Unfortunately, the weight of the great military powers was too great. Eight years of discussion that ended in failure. Other negotiations will certainly see the light of day, but it’s hard to imagine how states will be able to change their minds on the issue. Combat drones have been a central concern of the United Nations for several years.
At the same time, China, Israel, India, the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, which wants 30,000 combat drones by 2030 or even Turkey (among others), are testing robots and continue to equip themselves to face the other great military powers. During the Trump era, the government even relaxed its laws to boost exports of military drones.
Combat drones are dangerous
Last week the New York Times published an investigation which points to the many dysfunctions of the Pentagon on the use of combat drones. The United States is said to have carried out 50,000 strikes in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq with autonomous drones. These strikes have caused the death of at least 1,427 civilians. Proof that combat drones are not used to protect civilians in the countries concerned, a promise claimed by the great military powers, but rather to protect the soldiers of the attacking country.
This summer, the United Nations even claimed that an autonomous military drone attacked humans without permission. In a detailed report, the UN explains how the Kargu-2 drone produced by STM, a Turkish company, allegedly attacked soldiers of Libyan General Khalifa Haftar as they retreated. For almost eight years, experts have pointed out the dangers posed by combat drones.
At the end of the Geneva summit, António Guterres, the secretary general of the United Nations, called on countries to “Put in place an ambitious plan to develop new rules and regulate the use of combat drones”.