Characterisation, para. 25 - Statement by Stop Killer Robots to the GGE on LAWS, 31 August - 4 September

The following statement was delivered on Monday, 31 August 2026, by Gabriel Debatin Coutinho to delegates participating in the meeting of the Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS), which took place on 31 August to 4 September 2026.

Thank you, Chair.

Over the past two years, we have seen significant progress in this forum. States have developed their common understanding of what autonomous weapons systems are. They have built common ground on the core measures that are needed to ensure meaningful human control over these systems and uphold international law.

We would like to commend the continued efforts of you and your team to retain and reflect this progress, whilst seeking consensus.

The set of elements we now have as a result is a highly significant text: it gives a basis for effectively prohibiting and regulating autonomous weapons systems through a legally binding instrument.

We welcome the recognition in the joint statements delivered by Brazil and by the African Group that the current set of elements is a sufficient basis for negotiations on an instrument on autonomous weapons systems. Over 70 states have, since the September 2025 GGE, expressed support for moving towards negotiations on the basis of the text the group has been discussing.

We strongly urge states to preserve a text this week that fully reflects their work of the past three years, and to resolve final issues in the context of the negotiation of a legal instrument. States must not accept the weakening of core concepts or the removal of broad sections of the elements in the name of consensus. It would be unacceptable to waste their work in this way.

The elements, if turned into rules, would still only be the bare minimum we need to see towards protecting civilians during armed conflict and defending existing legal principles, in the context of increasing autonomy in weapons systems. They do not address the crucial issue of anti-personnel autonomous weapons systems. To make legal rules that truly represent a step forward to protect humanity, states will need to go further when negotiations commence.

In the meantime, this final session of the GGE comes at a critical moment. Reports of the use and testing on the battlefield of systems that fall within the scope of autonomous weapons are rising – including of systems that could detect and kill people autonomously. There have also been reports of civilian casualties. We are not in a theoretical debate: decisions made in this room will have a real impact on people living through war. We urge states to keep this at the top of their minds during the week’s discussions, and focus on finishing this mandate so that they can move forward to the next step at the Review Conference.

Regarding paragraph 25 we believe this provides a workable characterisation of autonomous weapons systems – despite the risk that  paragraph 1A could be read unnecessarily restrictively. 

In this regard we welcome the Chair’s suggestion to insert ‘specific’ regarding the ‘group of targets,’ as well as the ICRC’s suggestion to clarify this insertion further, to avoid potentially excluding systems that should fall under the scope of an instrument.

Thank you, Chair.