Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka has participated in most Conventional on Certain Conventional Weapon meetings on autonomous weapons systems.

Sri Lanka supports the negotiation of a legally binding instrument on autonomous weapons systems. At the 77th UN General Assembly First Committee meeting in October 2022, Sri Lanka said that ‘With ongoing instabilities in international security and mounting evidence of autonomous weapons systems being used in contemporary conflicts, an agreed international legal framework is urgently needed to safeguard against the serious ethical, legal, humanitarian and security risks posed by autonomous weapons systems.’ Sri Lanka further continued that ‘it is bad enough that we are compelled to discuss ways to prevent humans from killing each other but automation of the process would amount to an abdication of the little humanity that remains in the laws of war and surely repugnant to the principles of the UN Charter that discourages war, promotes peace and preserves human rights.'^[1]Statement by Sri Lanka, 77th UN General Assembly First Committee, 07 October 2022, https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com22/statements/7Oct_SriLanka.pdf

At the UN General Assembly First Committee meeting in 2019, Sri Lanka stated that ‘legal clarity on exact parameters of prohibitive and permissive limitations through the adoption of a new legally binding instrument is the only way forward which would provide clear legal limitations on autonomous weapons systems while complementing and strengthening the existing International Humanitarian Law norms.’^[2]Statement by Sri Lanka, UN General Assembly First Committee, 14 October 2019, https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com20/statements/14Oct_SriLanka.pdf At the GGE on LAWS in August 2021, Sri Lanka stated that ‘a legally binding instrument stipulating clear limitations both prohibitive and permissive based on the centrality of human control on weapon systems would be our only hope.’^[3]Statement by Sri Lanka, CCW Group of Governmental Experts on LAWS, 03 August 2021, http://149.202.215.129:8080/s2t/UNOG/LAWS-03-08-2021-AM_mp3_en.html; please note that this link leads to the full … Continue reading Sri Lanka is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, which supports the negotiation of a legally binding instrument on autonomous weapons systems.

In a statement at the CCW Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons (GGE on LAWS) in 2021, Sri Lanka said that it is ‘not convinced that autonomous weapons are better equipped to ensure compliance with International Humanitarian Law; context specific and complicated judgments in the battlefield cannot be taken by a machine.’^[4]Statement by Sri Lanka, CCW Group of Governmental Experts on LAWS, 03 August 2021, http://149.202.215.129:8080/s2t/UNOG/LAWS-03-08-2021-AM_mp3_en.html; please note that this link leads to the full … Continue reading Further, on the applicability of International Humanitarian Law to autonomous weapon systems, Sri Lanka stated that ‘at present no rule of international law specifically prohibits or restricts the use of autonomy in weapon systems, nor does the existing International Humanitarian Law principles specifically require maintenance of human control in weapon systems. These are the very reasons why we argue that existing legal principles are insufficient and further clarity is needed.’^[5]Statement by Sri Lanka, CCW Group of Governmental Experts on LAWS, 29 September 2021, http://149.202.215.129:8080/s2t/UNOG/LAWS-29-09-2021-AM_mp3_en.html; please note that this link leads to the full … Continue reading