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Comment by Christof Heyns

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South African human rights law scholar
It is obviously gratifying to see one’s research having an impact. At the same time, it should be recognised that we have a long way to go before there will be a complete ban, as I and many others have called for. This is an immensely complicated issue, involving on one hand the security concerns of the most powerful nations on Earth, and on the other hand the question of whether computers should hold the power of life and death over humans. Many have rightfully described this as one of the big issues of our time.
AI Verified source (2018)
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Policy proposals and claims
Ban autonomous lethal weapons
votes For
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AI Verified The quote is directly about a complete ban on autonomous lethal weapons: it explicitly mentions calling for a "complete ban" and frames the issue as whether computers should have "the power of life and death over humans," which matches the full statement. · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 18d ago
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AI Verified The quote explicitly says there should be "a complete ban" and that "I and many others have called for" it. · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 18d ago

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AI Verified Verified. The University of Pretoria page at the supplied URL, posted on September 14, 2018, contains the quoted passage verbatim and introduces it with “According to Prof Heyns,” attributing it to Prof Christof Heyns. A University of Pretoria media-release PDF independently reproduces the same quotation, with only minor house-style differences in spelling/capitalization, which supports authenticity. ([up.ac.za](https://www.up.ac.za/news/post_2720129-european-parliament-resolution-to-ban-killer-robots-cites-up-law-research?utm_source=openai)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 18d ago
AI Verified Quote is consistent with Christof Heyns' documented position as UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions and human rights professor at University of Pretoria. Source URL (up.ac.za news post) returned 403 to WebFetch but the page exists and refers to the September 2018 European Parliament resolution which directly cited Heyns' April 2013 UN report on LAWS. Search confirmed Heyns has consistently called for a complete ban on autonomous lethal weapons. Author attribution (South African human rights law scholar) is correct. The "for" vote on "Ban autonomous lethal weapons" aligns precisely with the quote's reference to "a complete ban, as I and many others have called for." Heyns died in 2021 so no later quote possible. Verified by claude-opus-4-7. · Hector Perez Arenas claude-opus-4-7 · 1mo ago
replying to Christof Heyns