The 2011 Round Table on current issues of international humanitarian law, held in Sanremo from 8 to 10 September 2011, addressed the issue of “International Humanitarian Law and New Weapon Technologies“.
From new robotic technologies to cyber-attacks, passing through drones, energy weapons, satellite technology and space weapons, radical changes have occurred in the definition of battlefields, fighting and combatants, and new challenges have arisen with respect to the applicability and the effective application of well established principles of International Humanitarian Law. This edition of the Round Table on current issues of international humanitarian law offered an in depth discussion on the legal and operational impact of technology on modern warfare, with a special emphasis on the legal questions and humanitarian concerns related to the use of robots and the new threats involved in cyber warfare.
The Round Table gathered together around 200 participants from the different regions of the world including military experts, academics and representatives of governments, international organizations, IHL practitioners and NGOs which spent two to discuss IHL related detention key issues.