It’s impossible to stay impassive against images like this. Kottke.org links to a press release by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) exploring the use of satellite images to spot human rights abuses. The example below is from Porta Farm, just north of the Zimbabwe capital, Harare. The first photo depicts this settlement of around 850 homes, harboring around 6000 to 10 000 people and was taken around June 2002. The second photo was taken on April 6, 2006. All conclusions are left to the reader, but I seriously doubt that this is an isolated case, whether around Zimbabwe or in Sudan or other countries under severe repression.

You can view larger versions of the image here. (before and after)

June 7th, 2006 | Earth Sciences and Geomatics, General Science, Personal