Killer Robots

Negotiate Killer Robots Treaty in New Forum

November 15, 2022

New Report Identifies More Effective Routes to Protecting Civilians, Avoiding Insecurity Governments should move the stalled discussions of a treaty on autonomous weapons systems, known as “killer robots,” to a new international forum, Harvard Law School’s International Human Rights Clinic and Human Rights Watch said in a new report. Such weapons systems operate without meaningful human control, delegating life-and-death decisions…

Killer Robots: Precedent for a Ban Treaty

October 20, 2020

Shared Concerns, Desire for Human Control Should Spur Regulation (Washington, DC, October 20, 2020) – A treaty to ban fully autonomous weapons, or “killer robots,” is essential and achievable, the International Human Rights Clinic said in a report released today. The 25-page report, “New Weapons, Proven Precedent: Elements of and Models for a Treaty on Killer Robots,” outlines key elements…

Losing Control: The Dangers of Killer Robots

This piece originally appeared in The Conversation on June 16, 2016 New technology could lead humans to relinquish control over decisions to use lethal force. As artificial intelligence advances, the possibility that machines could independently select and fire on targets is fast approaching. Fully autonomous weapons, also known as “killer robots,” are quickly moving from the realm of science fiction…

“Fighting for Disarmament”: Bonnie Docherty’s work featured in Harvard Gazette

January 7, 2016

This Q & A by reporter Liz Mineo ran in the Harvard Gazette on January 3, 2015 After researching the devastating humanitarian effects of the deadly cluster munitions used in Afghanistan in 2002, Bonnie Docherty joined a worldwide campaign to eliminate them. Six years after she started her probe, cluster bombs were banned. Her investigation on the use of cluster…

Clinic and HRW: Ramp up Action to Ban Killer Robots

November 10, 2015

PRESS RELEASE Ramp Up Action to Ban Killer Robots Blinding Lasers Prohibition Offers Precedent (Geneva, November 9, 2015) – Governments should agree to expand and formalize their international deliberations on fully autonomous weapons, with the ultimate aim of preemptively banning them, Human Rights Watch and the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School said in a joint report released…

Clinic and HRW Release Report: “Mind the Gap: The Lack of Accountability for Killer Robots”

PRESS RELEASE The “Killer Robots” Accountability Gap Obstacles to Legal Responsibility Show Need for Ban (Geneva, April 9, 2015) – Programmers, manufacturers, and military personnel could all escape liability for unlawful deaths and injuries caused by fully autonomous weapons, or “killer robots,” Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The report was issued in advance of a multilateral…

Taking on “Killer Robots”

Last month, Senior Clinical Instructor Bonnie Docherty traveled with students to Geneva for the first multilateral meeting of the Convention on Conventional Weapons devoted to fully autonomous weapons, or “killer robots.” Below is her re-cap of the week’s events, published originally on May 23, 2014 in the online forum Just Security.

A Second Release in Geneva: “Advancing the Debate on Killer Robots”

In Geneva today, the Clinic and Human Rights Watch released the latest in a series of publications calling for a preemptive ban on the development, production, and use of fully autonomous weapons. The weapons- also called “killer robots”- would be capable of selecting and firing upon targets without any meaningful human control. The joint paper, entitled “Advancing the Debate on…

Keep “Killer Robots” Out of Policing

PRESS RELEASE Keep ‘Killer Robots’ Out of Policing Fully Autonomous Weapons Threaten Rights in Peace, War (Geneva, May 12, 2014) – Fully autonomous weapons, or “killer robots,” would jeopardize basic human rights, whether used in wartime or for law enforcement, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today, on the eve of the first multilateral meeting on the subject…

Clinic and Human Rights Watch Urge International Talks on ‘Killer Robots’

November 13, 2013

Senior Clinical Instructor Bonnie Docherty is in Geneva today at the annual meeting of the Convention on Conventional Weapons, making the case for a pre-emptive ban on fully autonomous weapons, or “killer robots.” By her side are two students from the International Human Rights Clinic: Lara Berlin, JD ’13, and Ben Bastomski, JD ’15. The Clinic has been working closely…