« 3D Video Inside Google Earth | Main | Underwater Roman Village? »
February 07, 2007
Using Satellite Photos to Document Human Rights Violations
The AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) has a project called the Science and Human Rights Program (SHR) and has been working with Amnesty International and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum to document human rights violations using satellite photography. According to OgleEarth, a Lars Bromley at the AAAS took data from the SRH project and created Google Earth files which use network links and GE 4 features to show increasingly higher resolution photos as you zoom into areas of concern. For example, you can see 
cases of ethnic cleansing where whole villages have been destroyed between March 2006 and November 2006 in Darfur (turn on/off November and March 2006 network links to see the difference between the two time periods for the areas marked in red). OgleEarth created placemarks showing locations in the most recent GE imagery update which show the refugee camps from Darfur. By the way, check out the Darfur Wall.
Google Earth is a great way to reach a wide audience to help the world see clear evidence of human rights violations and suffering which otherwise would be hidden because of the difficulty in reaching these dangerous places. The AAAS deserves credit for taking steps to properly utilize science and the utility of GE to help spread the word.
Posted by FrankTaylor at February 7, 2007 02:09 PM
Comments
Posted by: Stephen Sills at February 7, 2007 09:41 PM
Genocide denial is an ugly game, for forty five years Washington's friends at Bechtel and Freeport McMoRan have enjoyed building the world's LARGEST mine to harvest West Papua's gold and their copper while US paid Indonesian militia slaughter the Papuans whose lands are being mined.
No wonder the Whitehouse in May 2003 decided to take action to hi-jack the word "genocide" and prevent media coverage of the report the Yale Law School was preparing:
"Indonesian Human Rights Abuses in West Papua:
Application of the Law of Genocide to the History of Indonesian Control"
The Armenian people under the Young Turks, the Jewish people under the Nazi state, the victims of the Khmer Rouge, and the people of West Papua today share the experience of several inhuman acts;
they were selected by their 'States' to be eliminated (like insects);
they were denied escape or voice as they were moved like cattle;
the rest of the society did nothing to prevent or stop this;
the government, society, and their business partners around the world denied any crime had/or is still occuring.
In West Papua's case the genocide is part of a colonization program, a foreign military from 4000Km away, from Asia. The problem is DENIAL, denial of a voice.
Posted by: Genocide denial of West Papua at February 15, 2007 01:23 AM
this is a very saafying picture my son was doing a prodject on gps satolites and this helped
Posted by: mckinley at October 29, 2007 08:08 PM
Post a comment:
NOTE: Please use English. Comments are moderated.
Great use of technology!