A/HRC/23/47 who use them. With the contemplation of LARs, the distinction between weapons and warriors risks becoming blurred, as the former would take autonomous decisions about their own use. 29. Official statements from Governments with the ability to produce LARs indicate that their use during armed conflict or elsewhere is not currently envisioned.4 While this may be so, it should be recalled that aeroplanes and drones were first used in armed conflict for surveillance purposes only, and offensive use was ruled out because of the anticipated adverse consequences.5 Subsequent experience shows that when technology that provides a perceived advantage over an adversary is available, initial intentions are often cast aside. Likewise, military technology is easily transferred into the civilian sphere. If the international legal framework has to be reinforced against the pressures of the future, this must be done while it is still possible. 30. One of the most difficult issues that the legal, moral and religious codes of the world have grappled with is the killing of one human being by another. The prospect of a future in which fully autonomous robots could exercise the power of life and death over human beings raises a host of additional concerns. As will be argued in what follows, the introduction of such powerful yet controversial new weapons systems has the potential to pose new threats to the right to life. It could also create serious international division and weaken the role and rule of international law – and in the process undermine the international security system.6 The advent of LARs requires all involved – States, international organizations, and international and national civil societies – to consider the full implications of embarking on this road. 31. Some argue that robots could never meet the requirements of international humanitarian law (IHL) or international human rights law (IHRL), and that, even if they could, as a matter of principle robots should not be granted the power to decide who should live and die. These critics call for a blanket ban on their development, production and use.7 To others, such technological advances – if kept within proper bounds – represent legitimate military advances, which could in some respects even help to make armed conflict more humane and save lives on all sides.8 According to this argument, to reject this technology altogether could amount to not properly protecting life. 32. However, there is wide acceptance that caution and some form of control of States‟ use of this technology are needed, over and above the general standards already posed by international law. Commentators agree that an international discussion is needed to consider the appropriate approach to LARs. 4 5 6 7 8 6 US Department of Defense, Unmanned Systems Integrated Road Map FY2011-2036, p. 50, available from http://publicintelligence.net/dod-unmanned-systems-integrated-roadmap-fy2011-2036 See http://www.usaww1.com/World_War_1_Fighter_Planes.php4 Nils Melzer, “Human rights implications of the usage of drones and unmanned robots in warfare” Study for the European Parliament‟s Subcommittee on Human Rights (2013), available from http://www.europarl.europa.eu/committees/en/studies/html, p. 5 (forthcoming). Human Rights Watch, Losing Humanity: The Case Against Killer Robots (2012), p. 2, available from http://www.hrw.org/reports/2012/11/19/losing-humanity-0. See in response Michael Schmitt “Autonomous Weapons Systems and International Humanitarian Law: A Reply to the Critics” Harvard International Security Journal (forthcoming 2013), available from http://harvardnsj.org/wpcontent/uploads/2013/02/Schmitt-Autonomous-Weapon-Systems-and-IHL-Final.pdf). The International Committee on Robot Arms Control (ICRAC) was formed to promote such a ban. See http://icrac.net Ronald Arkin, Governing Lethal Behaviour in Autonomous Robots (CRC Press, 2009); Kenneth Anderson and Matthew Waxman, “Law and ethics for robot soldiers”, Policy Review, No. 176 (2012), available from http://www.hoover.org/publications/policy-review/article/135336.