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Edition: U.S. Article Comments (0) Email Print Reprints Full Focus Best of the week Our top pictures from the past week. Full Article Read Rangers down Yanks to reach first World Series 12:59am EDT "Paranormal Activity 2" jeered on opening day 22 Oct 2010 UPDATE 2-Obama accuses Republicans of peddling "snake oil" 12:25am EDT WikiLeaks data shows U.S. failed to probe Iraqi abuse cases 22 Oct 2010 Google says its cars grabbed emails, passwords 22 Oct 2010 Discussed 62 WRAPUP 1-Two Fed officials favor aggressive easing options 62 Jobs blasts rivals as iPad sales disappoint 53 Merkel says German multiculturalism has failed Watched Russian spy poses for Maxim Tue, Oct 19 2010 Ancient tomb discovered in Egypt Wed, Oct 20 2010 Mexico's 20-yr old police chief Thu, Oct 21 2010 U.N. urged to set up panel on ethics of robot weapons Tweet This Share on LinkedIn Share on Facebook Related Topics World » United Nations » By Patrick Worsnip UNITED NATIONS | Fri Oct 22, 2010 7:17pm EDT UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A U.N. investigator called on the world body on Friday to set up a panel to study the ethics and legality of unmanned military weapons -- an apparent reference to U.S. drones that strike suspected Islamist militants. In a report to the U.N. General Assembly human rights committee, Christof Heyns said such systems raised "serious concerns that have been almost entirely unexamined by human rights or humanitarian actors." "The international community urgently needs to address the legal, political, ethical and moral implications of the development of lethal robotic technologies," said Heyns, U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions. It was the second time this year U.N. experts tackled the issue. In June, Heyns' predecessor, Philip Alston, called for a halt to CIA-directed drone strikes on al Qaeda and Taliban suspects in Afghanistan and Pakistan, saying killings ordered far from the battlefield could lead to a "Playstation" mentality. The CIA contested Alston's findings, saying -- without confirming it carried out the strikes -- that its operations "unfold within a framework of law and close government oversight." But Heyns, a South African law professor, said there was a need to discuss responsibility for civilian casualties, how to ensure the use of robots complied with humanitarian law, and standards for developing the technology involved. Saying the United Nations should take a lead, he urged Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to convene a group of national representatives, human rights experts, philosophers, scientists and developers to promote a debate on the legal and moral implications of robotic weapons. The group should discuss the challenges the weapons posed and how the technologies could be used "to promote more effective compliance with international human rights and humanitarian law," he said. Among the issues it should study was "the fundamental question of whether lethal force should ever be permitted to be fully automated," he added. Heyns' statement to the U.N. committee did not name any country, weapon system or target in its discussion of robotic technologies. Under President Barack Obama, the CIA has stepped up drone strikes in the tribal zone of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan, targeting high-level al Qaeda and Taliban figures as well as largely unknown foot soldiers. But Alston's June report said the United States was just one of 40 countries with drone technology. He named Britain, China, France, India, Iran, Israel, Russia and Turkey as also having or seeking the capacity to fire missiles from drones. (Editing by Peter Cooney) World United Nations Add a Comment *We welcome comments that advance the story directly or with relevant tangential information. We try to block comments that use offensive language or appear to be spam and review comments frequently to ensure they meet our standards. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. 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