Lesotho

Lesotho has attended some of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) Group of Governmental Experts meetings on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (GGE on LAWS) since 2014. Lesotho supports the negotiation of a legally binding instrument on autonomous weapons systems. Lesotho is a member of the African Group within the United Nations, and is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), both of which support the negotiation of a legally binding instrument on autonomous weapons systems.

At the March 2026 session of the CCW Group of Governmental Experts on lethal autonomous weapons systems a joint statement was delivered on behalf of African States that are High Contracting Parties to CCW, including Lesotho, stating that ‘the African Group is ready and committed to completing [the GGE] mandate’s work and supports moving forward toward negotiations on the basis of the rolling text.’^[1]Statement by Sierra Leone on behalf of African States that are High Contracting Parties to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, CCW GGE on LAWS, 4 March 2026, … Continue reading

In December 2025, Lesotho voted in favour of UN General Assembly Resolution 80/57 on lethal autonomous weapons systems. Mindful of the challenges and concerns autonomous weapons systems raise from humanitarian, legal, security, technological and ethical perspectives, Resolution 80/57 stresses the urgent need for the CCW to address the challenges and concerns posed by autonomous weapons systems, and calls upon the High Contracting Parties of the CCW to ‘work towards completing the set of elements for an instrument being developed within the mandate of the Group of Governmental Experts, with a view to future negotiation.’

At the CCW GGE on LAWS in September 2025, Lesotho joined a group of 42 states delivering a joint statement calling for the group to begin negotiations of an instrument on the basis of its ‘rolling text,’ and stating that they were ready to do this.

At the 79th UN General Assembly First Committee in October 2024, Lesotho voted in favour of Draft Resolution L.77 on lethal autonomous weapons systems. Draft Resolution L.77 raises concerns about the ‘negative consequences and impact of autonomous weapon systems on global security and regional and international stability’ and stresses ‘the importance of the role of humans in the use of force to ensure responsibility and accountability and for States to comply with international law.’ It also notes ‘the repeated calls by the Secretary-General to urgently conclude negotiations of a legally binding instrument with prohibitions and regulations for autonomous weapons systems, in line with a two-tier approach.’ The Resolution will convene open informal consultations in 2025 over two days in New York, ‘to consider the report of the Secretary-General in full complementarity with and in a manner that supports the fulfilment of the mandate of the Group of Governmental Experts in order to further the international community’s understanding of the issues involved by discussing the full range of views received, including proposals and relevant aspects raised in the report that may thus far not have been discussed in detail in the Group of Governmental Experts.’

Speaking at the UN General Assembly First Committee in 2024, Lesotho stressed that ‘restrictive measures on autonomous weapons’ are ‘essential for international peace, security and prosperity.'^[2]Statement by Lesotho, 79th UNGA First Committee, 16 October 2024

In 2024, Lesotho endorsed the Chair’s Summary of the 2024 Vienna conference ‘Humanity at the Crossroads: Autonomous Weapons Systems and the Challenge of Regulation’ . The Chair’s Summary affirms the ‘strong commitment’ of the endorsing states to ‘work with urgency and with all interested stakeholders for an international legal instrument to regulate autonomous weapons systems.’

In December 2023, Lesotho voted in support of UN General Assembly Resolution 78/241 on lethal autonomous weapons systems. Resolution 78/241 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 78th UN General Assembly First Committee in 2023, it said that ‘autonomous weapons systems do not comply with humanitarian law, and they should not be developed or used.'^[3]Statement by Lesotho, 23 October, 78th UN General Assembly First Committee, https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com23/statements/23Oct_Lesotho.pdf 

At the November 2023 CCW Meeting of High Contracting Parties, the African Group, of which Lesotho is a member, reiterated that ‘lethal autonomous weapons systems ‘raise ethical, legal, moral and technical questions, as well as international peace and security-related questions which should be thoroughly deliberated and examined in the context of conformity to international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law.’ The African Group further stated that autonomous weapons ‘must remain under the direct, meaningful control and supervision of humans at all times. These key principles must, therefore form the essential elements of any normative and operational framework to address ethical considerations as well as moral responsibility and accountability of these weapons systems.’ The African Group also noted its support for a legally binding instrument on autonomous weapons.^[4]Statement delivered by Nigeria on behalf of the African Group, Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons Meeting of High Contracting Parties, November 2023, … Continue reading