Autonomous Weapon Systems and Command Responsibility Under International Humanitarian Law

Abstract

The development of unmanned systems that are remotely controlled and those with increased autonomy in making the decision to target or kill humans has been a source of concern to the international community for over a period of time. The idea behind developing Autonomous Weapon Systems (AWS) is that once activated, they are able to make the decision to kill humans without further human intervention. Therefore, the use of autonomous weapons has become a very significant threat to humanity. A major issue confronting the use of autonomous weapons is that of command responsibility. The paper aims to examine the rules governing the operation of Autonomous Weapons System during war in particular with regard to the command responsibility under the International Humanitarian Law. It is the argument of the paper that in-as-much-as AWS promises to save lives, there are compelling reasons to believe that the deployment of AWS will result in the violation of the right to life, dignity and other important rights. Also, it is the further argument that AWS without meaningful human control, are unpredictable on the battlefield where they are used. In the event of AWS violating the law, it is not clear who is legally responsible thereby creating an accountability gap. It is therefore important to examine who, in this case, the commander can be held responsible when AWS commits a crime. However, it is the finding of the paper that the use of AWS can potentially jeopardise several general principles of IHL, including proportionality, distinction and precautions. The paper concludes that human commander is liable for the actions of the human subordinate deploying the AWS if he/she knows or ought to have known that the human subordinate deploys an AWS in a way that violates IHL. The paper recommends among others that humans exercise meaningful human control over weapons in order to make AWS remain mere weapons in the hands of the warriors rather than being in the hands of robots.