The American Association for the Advancement of Science has satellite images which show the destruction of villages in eastern Burma (prior to the current crisis).
A new analysis of high-resolution satellite images completed by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) pinpoints evidence consistent with village destruction, forced relocations, and a growing military presence at 25 sites across eastern Burma where eyewitnesses have reported human rights violations.[snip]
Bromley, director of the AAAS Geospatial Technologies and Human Rights project, said documenting human rights violations in Burma posed special challenges. Burmese military tactics reportedly include forcing ethnic minorities to abandon their homes, and the use of scattered mortar fire to intimidate those who try to grow rice or other crops.
Consequently, Bromley noted: "Physical evidence of reported attacks on civilians sometimes can be subtle compared to the slash-and-burn types of destruction that we saw in Darfur or Zimbabwe. It's also a lush ecosystem where plants can quickly grow to cover burn marks, and clouds and terrain often block satellite observation." In addition, he said, maps of the area are largely decades old, with "foreign" village name spellings that are not used by reporting organizations or local people.
Despite such challenges, AAAS precisely mapped the locations of 31 of some 70 reported human rights violations by comparing field notes with information provided by the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. Satellite image analysis then revealed physical evidence to corroborate reported instances of human rights violations at 25 of the 31 accurately mapped sites. Wherever possible, Bromley compared archival satellite images with newly acquired shots to examine sites before as well as after the reported military activity. In other cases, recent images revealed clear signs of destruction.
"Eighteen of the locations showed evidence consistent with destroyed or damaged villages," Bromley reported. "We found evidence of expanded military camps in four other locations as well as multiple possibly relocated villages, and we documented growth in one refugee camp on the Thai border. All of this was very consistent with reporting by multiple human rights groups on the ground in Burma."
Apparently this isn't the first time the AAAS has helped document human rights abuses. It's got a project called AAAS Science and Human Rights Program, which has previously done work on Zimbabwe and Darfur.
Huh. Next time you're wondering whether to subscribe or renew your subscription to Science, add this work to your decision-making process.
Posted by Linkmeister at September 28, 2007 01:36 PM | TrackBack