Technological Advances in Weaponry, the Remoteness of Human Agency and the Erosion of Humanity in International Humanitarian Law

自冷战结束以来，战争发生了重大变化。部分由于各国所面临的国际威胁类型的演变，世界各地的武装部队已开始利用技术来制造更好、更强大和更少以人为本的武器。毫无疑问，这一事实对国际人道主义法产生了重大影响，国际人道主义法的存在基本上是为了限制某些灾难性的战争方法，并在冲突期间维持最高水平的道德和人道。自国际人道法诞生150多年以来，本项目旨在强调《海牙法》和《日内瓦公约》如何在技术先进的武器面前变得严重不足。因此，有人建议需要制定一项附加议定书，专门用于限制无人机战争和自主武器的使用，以确保现代冲突符合人道主义和区别的总体人道主义原则。此外，通过与国防部进行人员面谈，将强调从武装部队的角度来看，另一项附加议定书在军事人员的心理健康方面具有内在价值。这一想法得到了红十字国际委员会的支持，该委员会此前承认，无人机和自主武器在进一步保护战斗人员方面发挥着合法作用。本文将以这种方式坚定地将自己置于对国际人道法基本原理的批判性解释之中，同时关注保护平民和战斗人员的必要性，以及技术先进武器在阻碍和促进人道主义方面的作用。这里将讨论国际人道法与国际人权法之间的相互作用，以及如何有效地应用它们来减轻新技术的破坏性影响。值得注意的是，在我的论文中，人性的主题将是讨论的前沿。我相信，进行战争的方式对平民和战斗人员的安全至关重要，并在建立冲突后和平的方式中发挥着重要作用。然而，有人会断言，在如何通过技术先进的武器在合法战斗人员中区分和保护平民方面存在一个重大问题。在这次讨论中，调查武装部队在规划和执行攻击时指导决策过程的程序是至关重要的。此外，尽管《第一附加议定书》第36条赋予缔约国自主发展新武器的权力，但我假设在这方面给予过多的自由裁量权是有危险的。如果没有一项关于新兴技术的有目的的附加议定书，人的能动性和人类道德就可能从战争中消失，代之以人工智能，从而损害国际人道法。作为讨论的一部分，我将寻求将从BAE系统公司的武器开发人员那里收集的采访数据纳入其中，作为一种更全面地了解英国部署新武器方法的方法，并将这种方法与其他国家（如法国）的可用数据进行比较，这些国家采用了更有限的方法。世界各地的冲突在某种程度上是不可避免的，但重要的是要决定我们希望在未来看到什么样的冲突反应，以及机器领导的行动对心理和身体的影响是否属于这种形象的一部分。重新认识国际人道法背后的基本原理可以在战争中防止这种情况，并有助于建设和平的努力。

Since the end of the Cold-War, warfare has undergone significant change. Partly fuelled by an evolution in the type of international threats which States face, armed forces around the world have begun to utilise technology in the creation of better, more powerful and less human-oriented weaponry. Undoubtedly, this fact has significant repercussions for international humanitarian law (IHL) which exists, fundamentally, to restrict certain catastrophic methods of warfare and maintain the highest levels of morality and humanity during conflicts. Over 150 years since the birth of IHL, this project seeks to highlight how both Hague Law and the Geneva Conventions have become woefully inadequate in the face of technologically advanced weaponry. As a result, it will be proposed that an Additional Protocol is required which is specifically designed to restrict the use of drone warfare and autonomous weapons in order to ensure modern conflicts are in line with the overarching humanitarian principles of humanity and distinction. Furthermore, by engaging with the Ministry of Defence through the undertaking of personnel interviews, it will be stressed that there is inherent value in a further Additional Protocol from the perspective of the armed forces in terms of the mental health of military personnel. This idea has been supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross who has previously acknowledged that drones and autonomous weaponry have a legitimate role to play in the further protection of combatants. This thesis will place itself firmly within a critical interpretation of the rationale of IHL in this way, giving equal attention to the need to protect both civilians and combatants, and the role of technologically advanced weaponry in the hindrance, as well as advancement, of humanitarianism. A discussion of the interaction between IHL and international human rights law will be discussed here and how each can be applied effectively to mitigate the damaging effects of new technologies. Significantly within my thesis, the topic of humanity will be at the forefront of the discussion. It is my belief that the ways in which warfare is conducted is crucial to the safety of both civilians and combatants as well as playing a significant role in the way in which post-conflict peace is built. However, it will be asserted that there is a significant problem in how civilians are distinguished and protected in and amongst lawful combatants by technologically advanced weaponry. Investigating the procedures of the armed forces which are in place to guide the decision-making process in the planning and execution of an attack is paramount in this discussion. Additionally, despite Article 36 of Additional Protocol One providing state parties with discretionary powers to develop new weapons, I will hypothesise that there is a danger in affording too much discretion in this regard. Without a purposeful Additional Protocol on emerging technologies, human agency and human morality could be removed from warfare and replaced with artificial intelligence to the detriment of IHL. As part of this discussion, I will seek to incorporate interview data gathered from weapons developers at BAE Systems, as a method of building more of a comprehensive picture of the UK's approach to the deployment of new weapons and comparing this approach to the data available for other countries, such as France, that employ a more restricted approach. Conflicts around the world are somewhat inevitable but it is important to decide what kind of response to conflicts we want to see in the future and if the psychological and physical impacts of machine-led operations are part of this image. A re-engagement with the rationale behind IHL can prevent this in warfare as well as aid peace-building efforts.