Satellites can monitor volcanoes, map deforestation, and help sell real estate. But can they document human-rights violations?
Yes, activists say.
Already, high-altitude images of Zimbabwe's destruction of a settlement has increased pressure on the government to curb its abuses. Now, human-rights groups are focusing on Darfur, Chad, and Burma. In eastern Burma, for example, the government is accused of aggressively attacking an ethnic minority.
Burma "is a black hole," says Jeremy Woodrum of the US Campaign for Burma. "Media and aid agencies can go into Darfur in Sudan, but they can't get into eastern Burma; it's totally off limits."
Even in such closed countries, satellites can detect military destruction, the movement of refugees, even their living conditions. They may be able to show the scale of government rebuilding and whether some groups are benefiting more than others.
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