Support Grows for a Treaty to Ban Killer Robots

 

The Campaign to Stop Killer¹ Robots is urging the United Nations to begin talks about banning the use and development of autonomous² weapons systems. Representatives from more than 70 countries are attending a five-day meeting in Geneva of the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Autonomous weapons systems are military robots that can independently search and attack targets based on their programming. They are often called killer robots.

The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots is a worldwide coalition³ of 76 organizations in 32 countries. Members include Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Mines Action Canada and the Nobel Women's Initiative.

Activists⁴ say that support is growing for countries to negotiate a ban on the devices during the yearly CCW meeting in late November.

The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots reports that 26 countries have joined the call for a ban since the last CCW meeting in April. The group says China is agreeable to a ban on using these weapons, though not on their development. The coalition also says Russia has announced its support for a non-binding⁵ agreement.

Mary Wareham of Human Rights Watch runs the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots. She says pressure is increasing on the United States and other countries to support a ban on fully⁶ autonomous weapons.

"All of the ingredients are there for states to take action now," Wareham said. “The CCW operates by consensus⁷…We will find out on Friday if any country wants to block the consensus for the proposed mandate⁸."

The proposed mandate is to negotiate a legally binding agreement by the end of 2019. During the last meeting, France, Israel, Russia, Britain and the United States all rejected moves to ban these weapons systems.

Activists say legally binding agreements must be passed to guarantee human control over the use of deadly force. They say to fail in this would violate internationally accepted morals.

I’m Phil Dierking.

Words in This Story

autonomous - adj. existing or acting⁹ separately from other things or people ?

non-binding - adj. not able to be enforced by law?

consensus - n. a general agreement about something?

ingredient - n. a quality or characteristic that makes something possible?

mandate - n. an official order to do something

1 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

2 autonomous   

adj.自治的；独立的

参考例句：

• They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
• This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。

3 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

4 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 binding   

有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的

参考例句：

• The contract was not signed and has no binding force. 合同没有签署因而没有约束力。
• Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding. 双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。

6 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

7 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

8 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

9 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。