SATELLITE TECHNOLOGY AND HUMAN RIGHTS
It's been forty years since the first images of Earth from space were captured, but the sight of our planet is still inspiring.
Now, Amnesty International is harnessing the power of these images and putting them to work for human rights.
Thanks to high resolution satellite imagery, human rights advocates can now document abuses anywhere in the world - even in countries that are sealed off from on-the-ground researchers. All from 280 miles above the Earth's surface.
To make the Eyes on Darfur project possible, Amnesty International acquired commercially-available high resolution satellite imagery. The images were obtained in GeoTIFF format and imported into ERDAS Imagine and ArcGIS for viewing and analysis. The analysis of the images was undertaken by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) to determine the extent of damage to the structures visible in each image.
A Track Record of Success:
The Eyes on Darfur project builds on our past success in using satellite technology to promote human rights. Here is one example:
In 2006, Amnesty undertook a project to document the Zimbabwean government's program of forced evictions and demolitions that took place in June 2005. The program - Operation Murambatsvina, or "Restore Order" - affected some 700,000 people and constituted a grave violation of human rights law.
To illustrate the human cost of the government's actions, Amnesty International acquired the images shown here of the community of Porta Farm, Zimbabwe, which was completely wiped out during the evictions. On June 28, 2005 residents of the Porta Farm community watched helplessly as bulldozers reduced their homes to rubble. Police reportedly threatened residents, saying anyone who resisted would be beaten. These images show the result.
The images were included in a highly-publicized 2006 Amnesty report and were jointly presented by Amnesty and the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights for litigation in the African Court.
the eviction and demolition operation.
Approximately 850 structures
are clearly visible.
and demolition of structures. Few buildings
remain in the image and vegetation has
overtaken much of the area.
