Botswana

Botswana is not currently a State party to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW).

Botswana is a member of the African Group and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), both of which support the negotiation of a legally binding instrument on autonomous weapons systems. Botswana has not spoken independently on the need for a legally binding instrument.

Botswana has provided brief commentary on the issue of autonomous weapons at United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) First Committee meetings. On 27 October 2015^[1]Statement by Botswana at the UN General Assembly, 27 October 2015, https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com15/statements/27October_Botswana.pdf and 20 October 2017, Botswana welcomed ‘the appointment of a Group of Governmental Experts who will amongst others examine challenges related to emerging technologies in the area of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS)’.^[2]Statement by Botswana at the UN General Assembly, 20 October 2017, https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com17/statements/23Oct_Botswana.pdf

On 29 October 2018, at the UNGA First Committee meeting, Botswana stated that ‘we need to examine challenges related to emerging technologies in the area of (LAWS)…and we acknowledge the necessity for nations to possess conventional arms for legitimate protection of their territories, interests and maintenance of global peace and stability. We are, however, concerned that such weapons are deadly as they cause pain and suffering with far-reaching consequences. Recent developments such as use of armed unmanned air vehicles and autonomous weaponry further compound this problem. It is doubtful if the use of these weapons meets standards of public international law, International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and international human rights law’.^[3]Statement by Botswana at the UN General Assembly, 29 October 2018,https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com18/statements/29Oct_Botswana.pdf