Printer-friendly versionSend to friend

The AAAS Science and Human Rights Program (SHRP), with funding from the MacArthur Foundation, the Oak Foundation, and the Open Society Institute, is working to expand the applications of geospatial technologies to human rights issues through its Geospatial Technologies and Human Rights Project. Geospatial technologies include a range of modern tools, such as satellite images, geographic information systems (GIS), and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) that allow for mapping and analysis of multiple layers of georeferenced data.

SHRP partners with other human rights organizations to provide them with technical assistance in using geospatial technologies to strengthen advocacy campaigns, support legal cases, and enhance response coordination and prevention efforts. Areas of particular current interest to SHRP are: Mexico, India, Russia and Nigeria. A brief background document, "What can geospatial technologies do for the human rights community?" details how geospatial technologies may assist human rights work.

Such imagery has been successfully used by Eritrea (see image to the right) in presenting evidence of Ethiopian misconduct during the occupation of villages during their armed conflict. During hearings in The Hague at the Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission, Eritrea succeeded in using high resolution imagery, the only photographic evidence available for the area in question, in showing unlawful damage to homes, public buildings, and agriculture.

Human Rights Watch has also explored applications of geospatial technologies in their work. Specifically, Human Rights Watch used high resolution imagery and other geospatial data to understand how and why civilians were killed or injured during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Human Rights Watch was also able to make use of an archive of high-resolution imagery to document the systematic destruction of homes by Israeli Defense Forces in the Gaza Strip.

Amnesty International Denmark has conducted trial uses as well, contracting with an engineering firm to analyze low resolution Landsat 7 imagery. A further example is provided by the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, which combined high resolution imagery and defector interviews to produce an unprecedented and systemic study of the extensive North Korean political prison camp system. The Genocide Studies Program at Yale University has also long explored such applications in Cambodia, the Sudan, East Timor and other places..

In April of 2007 the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, in collaboration with Google, launched the Crisis in Darfur mapping initiative (see image to the left) which makes available a plethora of information on humanitarian issues in the Darfur region of the Sudan to the public via the Google Earth software interface.

More recent examples include work in Afghanistan, Sri Lank and South Ossetia:

In May of 2009 the AAAS-SHRP undertook a review of satellite imagery acquired of the Sheberghan area in the Jowzjan Province of northern Afghanistan. This review was done at the request of Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), who asked AAAS to provide satellite imagery analysis for their investigation of possible mass graves at Dasht-e-Leili, near Sheberghan. According to PHR, the graves had reportedly been created in 2001. Then, at some point prior to July, 2008, two large pits were dug in the area and the fill taken away. Hoping to clarify the excavation date, PHR requested that AAAS research and acquire available satellite imagery of the area to determine when two of the sizeable pits possibly comprising the graves might have first appeared.

SHRP acquired and analyzed commercial high-resolution satellite imagery of the Civilian Safety Zone (CSZ) and surrounding environs in northeastern Sri Lanka. Imagery analysis was initially requested by Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International USA (AI-USA) on May 10, 2009. These organizations expressed concern over the status and condition of civilians in the southern portion of the CSZ, as they were potentially affected by heavy fighting occurring May 9–10, 2009. This fighting was reported by multiple international news sources, including the BBC, and was referred to by United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs spokesman Gordon Weiss as a "bloodbath". As no outside parties were allowed access to the area during the timeframe in question, commercial high-resolution satellite imagery was one of the only options for gathering information.

In August 2008, AAAS staff began a review of satellite imagery of the Tskhinvali region of South Ossetia. Amnesty International (AI) contacted AAAS over concerns in regard to hostilities between Georgia and Russia, which began approximately 7-8 August 2008. Specifically, AI was gathering field reports from local informants of violence occurring in multiple cities and smaller villages throughout Georgia. These reports indicated destruction and violence toward civilians in many areas, particularly near Tskhinvali, a city in South Ossetia close to the Georgia-Russia border.

Based on these examples, it is apparent that the potential of geospatial technologies for human rights work lie in their widespread dissemination and effective utilization by organizations around the world. SHRP has the expertise to help human rights organizations navigate this rapidly evolving and complex field.

Contact AAAS (email to shrp at aaas dot org) to learn more about this project or to submit a request for assistance with a potential human rights related case study. Also, be sure to ask questions to the AAAS practitioners during our October featured dialogue on Geo-mapping for human rights from October 28 - Nov 3, 2009.