13 November 2019
This morning, the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots share a survey which shows 81% of Irish respondents are in favour of a ban on killer robots.
- A majority of people (73%) in 10 European countries want their country to work towards an international ban on killer robots, i.e. weapons systems that would select and attack targets without human control. Only 13% were opposed to such a ban.
- A previous poll conducted in 2018 also showed that 61% of respondents across 26 countries oppose the development of killer robots, with a majority opposed killer robots even in China (60%), Russia (59%), the UK (54%) and the US (52%).
- In Ireland, 81% of respondents are in favour of the Irish government working towards a treaty banning killer robots. This is the highest proportion of the ten European countries polled.
- European states must urgently work towards a legally binding instrument to prevent weapons systems that will select and engage a target without meaningful human control becoming a reality.
ICCL commends the tireless efforts of the Stop Killer Robots campaign to ensure this important moratorium. Weapons systems that engage in targeted operations without meaningful human control pose too high a risk to human rights to ever be deployed. We support the prohibition of their operation – entirely – through the creation of an international law.
See more on our work on technology and human rights.