Topic: Autonomous Weapon Systems
Country: Poland
Delegate Name: Luke Wassink
School: Forest Hills Eastern High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Poland position papers GLIMUN 2015 committees
Beginning in the 21st century, significant advancements have been made in lethal weapon systems. The need for a more powerful weapon grows as technology grows, and the boundaries of war continue to stretch. Technology now has the ability to make moral decisions.Poland believes that humanitarian law can only decide punishment if the law is just. The problem of autonomous weapons is that autonomous weapon systems lack human characteristics that decide the fate of other humans, and that it is not morally acceptable for a machine to decide to take the life of another human based on complex algorithms and complex math. Recently, Russia has created a weapon that can function automatically; the target is detected and engaged upon automatically. A weapon of this caliber could create massive bloodshed in nearby areas, especially considering the fact that Russia has already invaded the Crimean peninsula. This needs to be addressed by humanitarian law.
Although Poland is not currently in an area of conflict, it is important to us that human rights are not infringed upon, and countries are still able to develop new technology and better protect their inhabitants. In the past, Poland has protected human rights by signing the Convention of Certain Conventional Weapons, a treaty, on 10 April 1981. This treaty has, in the past, regulated the development of weapons, and put a cap on the autonomy that a weapon can posses???. It is important that this treaty regulates the development of autonomous weapons for the wellbeing of the human population. If something other than this treaty regulates the development of these weapons, loopholes are bound to be found and exploited by users of the weapons. One concrete rule that needs to be set is the necessity of meaningful human control. Meaningful human control is necessary to prevent rampant use of weapons, and to enforce punishments upon the guilty party. Autonomous weapons cannot be punished or blamed for the conflict, so the question must be asked who is to blame. Ultimately, this cannot be decided due to the fact that the programming resulting in the demise of the victim could have been accidental. In addition, the creator of the weapon system cannot be easily identifiable among the massive population of weapon producers. This is why Poland is so favorable to weapons with meaningful human control.
Poland urges countries of the United Nations to oppose the development of autonomous weapons, and to favor those that involve meaningful human control. Once this issue is addressed, humanity will be better protected from the devastating effects of autonomous weapons. Poland will cast its vote with a resolution that mandates meaningful human control. Resolutions that regulate the production of autonomous weapon systems and limit the amount produced will also be strongly favored by Poland.
