Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio Advocates for Ban on Autonomous Weapons Systems

Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio delivered a keynote address at an African regional conference on Autonomous Weapons Systems (AWS), firmly supporting UN Secretary-General António Guterres' call for a legally binding instrument to prohibit AWS by 2026.

Autonomous Weapons Systems are designed to select, target, and engage without any meaningful human intervention, distinguishing them from conventional weapons. This lack of human involvement raises significant concerns about accountability, ethics, and global security risks.

President Bio's support for the UN Secretary-General's call for international action on AWS aligns with a joint statement made by Guterres and Ms. Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), on October 5, 2023. Guterres described lethal AWS as "morally repugnant and politically unacceptable," emphasizing the need for their prohibition under international law.

There are compelling ethical, legal, and practical reasons why the global community must address the proliferation of AWS. Ethically, machines and algorithms should not make life and death decisions, which is what autonomous weapons are designed to do. This is seen as ethically appalling.

Why this matters:

The development and use of Autonomous Weapons Systems raises significant concerns about accountability, ethics, and global security risks, with implications for international law and humanitarian principles. If left unchecked, the proliferation of AWS could lead to devastating consequences, including unintended escalation and flash wars, and undermine global security and stability.

Legally, the use of AWS raises questions about accountability for potential war crimes, extrajudicial killings, and unlawful use of weaponry. If machines make life and death decisions in warfare, it becomes challenging to hold anyone accountable for these actions.

From a global security perspective, AWS increase the risk of unintended escalation and flash wars. Their ease of proliferation could lead to their use as weapons of mass destruction, significantly lowering the threshold for waging war.

The African regional conference on AWS, hosted by Sierra Leone, brought together member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to discuss the challenges associated with AWS. The event underscored the urgent need for international cooperation to address these concerns.

Dr. Lansana Gberie, Sierra Leone's Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, emphasized the risks posed by AWS to Africa. He warned that the proliferation of AWS could divert important resources away from peacebuilding and sustainable development, potentially leading to a new arms race with devastating consequences for the continent.

"Autonomous weapons make decisions to kill or destroy targets without a human being participating in the process. Accountability, and therefore reckoning, for such a grave decision becomes difficult," said Dr. Gberie.

As the international community grapples with the implications of AWS, the call for a legally binding instrument to prohibit their use by 2026 remains a critical step towards ensuring global security and ethical warfare practices.

Key Takeaways

• Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio supports UN Secretary-General's call to ban Autonomous Weapons Systems (AWS) by 2026.
• AWS raise concerns about accountability, ethics, and global security risks due to lack of human intervention.
• UN Secretary-General António Guterres calls AWS "morally repugnant and politically unacceptable."
• AWS proliferation could lead to unintended escalation, flash wars, and undermine global security and stability.
• International cooperation is urgently needed to address AWS concerns and ensure ethical warfare practices.