Ecuador

Ecuador has participated in all Convention on Certain Conventional Weapon meetings on autonomous weapons systems, with the exception of 2017.^[1]Human Rights Watch (2020), Stopping Killer Robots: Country Positions on Banning Fully Autonomous Weapons and Retaining Human Control, … Continue reading Ecuador supports the negotiation of a legally binding instrument on autonomous weapons systems.

At the 78th UN General Assembly First Committee in 2023, Ecuador voted in favour of resolution L.56 on autonomous weapons systems, along with 163 other states. Resolution L.56 stressed the ‘urgent need for the international community to address the challenges and concerns raised by autonomous weapons systems’, and mandated the UN Secretary-General to prepare a report, reflecting the views of member and observer states on autonomous weapons systems and ways to address the related challenges and concerns they raise from humanitarian, legal, security, technological and ethical perspectives and on the role of humans in the use of force.

At the 2023 CCW GGE on LAWS, Ecuador stated that ‘we believe that we urgently need to start negotiations on a legally binding instrument with prohibitions and regulations in order to deal with the challenges posed by these weapons from the point of view of IHL, international law and International Human Rights Law.'^[2]Statement by Ecuador, 2023 CCW GGE on LAWS, 15 May … Continue reading

At the Sixth Review Conference of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons in December 2021, Ecuador said that ‘we need to go from a level of debate [on autonomous weapon systems] to negotiating a binding instrument regulating those weapons or banning them.’ Further elaborating on the specific need for a legally binding instrument, Ecuador stated that ‘regulation is vital in order to address the risks posed by these weapons, particularly regarding its impact on international humanitarian law and international human rights law’, and vital to ‘allay the serious and justified fears’ surrounding autonomous weapons systems and the increasing dehumanisation of warfare.^[3]Statement by Ecuador, Sixth Review Conference of the CCW, 13 December 2021, http://149.202.215.129:8080/s2t/UNOG/RCHCP6-13-12-2021-PM_mp3_en.html; please note that this link leads to the full … Continue reading

During the UN General Assembly First Committee meeting in 2020, Ecuador said ‘We reject the growing use and improvement of aerial vehicles, unmanned artillery, as well as lethal autonomous weapons. The militarization of AI presents security challenges, international, transparency, control, proportionality, and responsibility.’^[4]Statement by Ecuador, UN General Assembly First Committee, 12 October 2020, https://front.un-arm.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/ecuador-es.pdf