The rapid proliferation of military drone planes and armed robots should be subject to international legal controls, conferences in London and Berlin will argue this month.
Public awareness of attacks by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), such as Reapers and Predators, in Afghanistan and Pakistan has grown, but less is known of the evolution of unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs).
Two conferences — Drone Wars in London on Saturday and a three-day workshop organized by the International Committee for Robot Arms Control (ICRAC) in Berlin from tomorrow until Wednesday — will hear calls for bans and for tighter regulation under international arms treaties.
British academics and policy experts, Red Cross representatives, peace activists, military advisers, human rights lawyers and those opposed to the arms trade are participating in the German meeting.
The development of what is known as “autonomous targeting” — where unmanned planes and military ground vehicles are engineered to lock automatically on to what their onboard computers assume is the enemy — has heightened concern.
Research is under way at enabling UAVs and UGVs to work in collaborative swarms, ensuring each machine selects a different target. This has reinforced fears that UAV strikes along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and in the Horn of Africa — or wherever future wars are fought — will increase death tolls.
British air force (RAF) pilots already operate armed drones from Creech US air force base in the Nevada desert — 13,000km away from the frontline where they release Hellfire missiles and Paveway bombs against Taliban targets.
Through a freedom of information request submitted to the UK Ministry of Defence, the UK-based Fellowship of Reconciliation — the group organizing the Drone Wars conference — found that as of April this year, RAF-controlled Reapers had opened fire on 84 occasions so far this year.
Defense equipment manufacturers insist that there is always “a man in the [control] loop” to authorize operations and that they are far less indiscriminate than the high level air force saturation bombing that occurred in World War II. Since there is no onboard pilot at risk, so the argument goes, they do not always have to fire first.
Critics highlight the number of civilian casualties in supposedly “surgical strike” raids, alleging that reliance on remote screens may induce a dehumanizing electronic games mentality in operators, and fear that such clandestine missions could lower the threshold for war — for example in Yemen and Somalia where the US is not involved in any formal conflict.
Philip Alston, a UN human rights special rapporteur, warned last autumn that US use of drones to kill militants in Afghanistan and Pakistan may violate international law. He called on the US to explain the legal basis for killing individuals with its drones.
“More than 40 countries have robotic programs now,” said Noel Sharkey, professor of robotics and artificial intelligence at Sheffield University, England, who is speaking at both conferences this month. “Even Iran has launched a UAV bomber with a range of several hundred miles. These [robotic] systems are difficult to develop, but easy to copy. In the [United ] States, a large proportion of robot making is being moved to Michigan to compensate for the decline in the car industry. Increasingly, [the manufacturers] are talking about the ‘man on the loop,’ where one person can control a swarm of robots. Our biggest concern for the future is autonomous systems that [select] targets themselves.”
For many scientists, the future potential is most alarming. David Webb, a professor of engineering at Leeds Metropolitan University, England, vice-chair of the UK Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and an expert on the militarization of space, addressed the Drone Wars conference in London. “We are only just starting to become aware of the wider issues,” he said. “Robots are [being developed] to make some decisions for themselves. If they kill somebody by mistake, do you put the robot on trial? The idea of having networked UAVs that work in swarms and could be armed has all sorts of implications.”
Dr Steve Wright, a lecturer in applied global ethics at Leeds Metropolitan University who will speak at an ICRAC workshop on the dangers of terrorists obtaining drones, said: “We need a new treaty to limit proliferation. All the arms fairs now are selling UAVs. It’s naive to think they will remain in the hands of governments.”
The UK government has defended the use of RAF-controlled UAVs in Afghanistan. An spokesperson said: “The rules of engagement used for Reaper weapon releases are the same as those used for manned combat aircraft: The weapons are all precision guided and every effort is made to ensure the risk of collateral damage and civilian casualties is minimized. This may include deciding not to release a weapon.”
I came to Taiwan to pursue my degree thinking that Taiwanese are “friendly,” but I was welcomed by Taiwanese classmates laughing at my friend’s name, Maria (瑪莉亞). At the time, I could not understand why they were mocking the name of Jesus’ mother. Later, I learned that “Maria” had become a stereotype — a shorthand for Filipino migrant workers. That was because many Filipino women in Taiwan, especially those who became house helpers, happen to have that name. With the rapidly increasing number of foreigners coming to Taiwan to work or study, more Taiwanese are interacting, socializing and forming relationships with
Chinese social media influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣), whose real name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), made statements advocating for “reunifying Taiwan [with China] through military force.” After verifying that Liu did indeed make such statements, the National Immigration Agency revoked her dependency-based residency permit. She must now either leave the country voluntarily or be deported. Operating your own page and becoming an influencer require a certain amount of support and user traffic. You must successfully gain approval for your views and attract an audience. Although Liu must leave the country, I cannot help but wonder how many more “Yayas” are still
Earlier signs suggest that US President Donald Trump’s policy on Taiwan is set to move in a more resolute direction, as his administration begins to take a tougher approach toward America’s main challenger at the global level, China. Despite its deepening economic woes, China continues to flex its muscles, including conducting provocative military drills off Taiwan, Australia and Vietnam recently. A recent Trump-signed memorandum on America’s investment policy was more about the China threat than about anything else. Singling out the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as a foreign adversary directing investments in American companies to obtain cutting-edge technologies, it said
The recent termination of Tibetan-language broadcasts by Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) is a significant setback for Tibetans both in Tibet and across the global diaspora. The broadcasts have long served as a vital lifeline, providing uncensored news, cultural preservation and a sense of connection for a community often isolated by geopolitical realities. For Tibetans living under Chinese rule, access to independent information is severely restricted. The Chinese government tightly controls media and censors content that challenges its narrative. VOA and RFA broadcasts have been among the few sources of uncensored news available to Tibetans, offering insights
RSS