Addressing the Preparatory Committee for the Seventh Review Conference of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) in Geneva, on 07 September 2026, Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Ambassador Sumith Dassanayake called on establishing an explicit negotiating mandate for a legally binding instrument on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS) at the forthcoming Review Conference of the Convention. Permanent Representative Sumith Dassanayake also emphasized that human judgment and control remain essential throughout the entire life cycle of autonomous weapons systems to maintain legal, ethical, and operational integrity and compliance with the International Humanitarian Law (IHL).
Highlighting that life-and-death decisions in armed conflicts must never be delegated to machines without human intervention, Permanent Representative Sumith Dassanayake urged Member States to adopt strict prohibitions on autonomous weapon systems that operate outside human control or target human beings directly. Taking note of the multi-year discussions within the Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS), Sri Lanka stressed that the upcoming Seventh Review Conference must move beyond generic exploratory work programs and establish clear, time-bound negotiating mandates for an international legal framework.
Congratulating Ambassador Julien Thöni, Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the Conference on Disarmament, on assuming the Chairmanship of the Preparatory Committee and the Seventh Review Conference scheduled for November 2026, Permanent Representative Sumith Dassanayake underscored that the Seventh Review Conference of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) offers a crucial opportunity to ensure international law adapts effectively to contemporary security challenges.
Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in Geneva
13 September 2026