HHI's chief project in the Crisis Mapping and Early Warning Program is the Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP). Satellite Sentinel Project is a collaborative endeavor combining satellite imagery, on-the-ground field reporting, and crisis mapping systems into a unified monitoring platform to detect, deter, and document threats to vulnerable populations. HHI runs the research, operational, and technical components of the Satellite Sentinel Project from their offices on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
SSP represents a signal achievement in the development of “protective humanitarian” technologies by employing the strategic collection and targeted presentation of data to deter and prevent mass atrocities. SSP’s work related to the crisis in Sudan marks the first sustained, public effort to systematically monitor and report on potential hotspots and threats to security along a border. The training, methodology and tools designed for impact by SSP are scalable so that they may be leveraged in a diversity of rapid response, human rights, and human security contexts.
LATEST REPORT:Impact: Indiscriminate Bombardment by a SAF Antonov, South Kordofan, Sudan15 March 2012
 The Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP), through Harvard Humanitarian Initiative’s analysis of DigitalGlobe satellite imagery, has collected evidence consistent with apparent indiscriminate aerial bombardment in progress by the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) in South Kordofan, Sudan. The indiscriminate targeting of civilian populations and infrastructure can constitute a war crime under international law.Plumes of grey smoke can be seen rising from the ground at two separate locations north of the village of Angarto, South Kordofan on 8 March 2012. One plume is visible 600 meters north and the other plume is visible 1.6 km/ 1 mi north of Angarto. In a second image captured six minutes later, fire is visible at one of the apparent impact sites. |
In the Media
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"In civilian areas controlled by the SPLM-North, there are reports of extrajudicial killings, illegal detention, disappearances, and attacks against civilians. Evidence gathered through satellite imagery by the Satellite Sentinel Project shows at least eight mass graves in and around Kadugli, the capital of Southern Kordofan." |
- "George Clooney's satellite spies reveal secrets of Sudan's bloody army" guardian.co.uk, March 24, 2012
- "George Clooney And The New Ethics Of Satellite Surveillance," International Business Times, March 16, 2012
- "Crisis Mapping Needs and Ethical Compass," GlobalBrief, February 6, 2012
- "Famine as a Weapon: It's Time to Stop Starvation in Sudan," Time, December 8, 2011
- "George Clooney's Satellites Build a Case Against an Alleged War Criminal," Time, December 3, 2011
- "Sudan Air Bases Built Up Near South Sudan Border, Group Says," Huffington Post, November 11, 2011
- "Sudan Upgrades Military Airbases Along Southern Border," Voice of America, November 11, 2011
- "Rights groups accuse Sudan of 'indiscriminate' bombings," CNN, August 31, 2011
- An Open Letter from HHI and the Satellite Sentinel Project to Ambassador Andrew Natsios
Reports
Below are the most recently published reports from the Satellite Sentinel Project. For the full list of the program's publications, please go here.
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The Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP), through Harvard Humanitarian Initiative’s analysis of DigitalGlobe satellite imagery, has collected evidence consistent with apparent indiscriminate aerial bombardment in progress by the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) in South Kordofan, Sudan. The indiscriminate targeting of civilian populations and infrastructure can constitute a war crime under international law.
Plumes of grey smoke can be seen rising from the ground at two separate locations north of the village of Angarto, South Kordofan on 8 March 2012. One plume is visible 600 meters north and the other plume is visible 1.6 km/ 1 mi north of Angarto. In a second image captured six minutes later, fire is visible at one of the apparent impact sites.
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Chokepoint: Evidence of SAF Control of Refugee Route to South Sudan 27 January 2012 Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP), through HHI’s analysis of DigitalGlobe satellite imagery, has confirmed that at least a battalion sized unit of Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) appear to control the main route civilians reportedly use to flee South Kordofan for Yida refugee camp. The interior of the apparent base, which is located in the town of Toroge, contains objects consistent with 80 to 90 tent-like structures, infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs), artillery, and heavy armor vehicles, which appear to be main battle tanks. In Siege: Evidence of SAF Encirclement of the Kauda Valley released 25 January 2012, SSP reported that the SAF had restricted access to the road leading towards South Sudan from South Kordofan. The imagery in this report specifically identifies a new fortified chokepoint along that road under apparent SAF control, which was established sometime after 23 November 2011. |
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Siege: Evidence of SAF Encirclement of the Kauda Valley 25 January 2012 Based on the totality of the evidence presented in this report, the Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP) is issuing a human security alert for the Nuba Mountains region of South Kordofan, including the Kauda Valley. A human security alert is issued by SSP when evidence is collected indicating any of the following: a build-up of forces and/or an enhancement of infrastructure and logistical capabilities indicating either the intent and/or the ability of an armed actor to restrict civilian freedom of movement, detain or displace civilians, and/or attack civilian targets. |
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Blue Nile Burning: Evidence of the Destruction of 'Amara Village 30 November 2011 The Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP), through the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative’s analysis of DigitalGlobe satellite imagery, has identified evidence of the intentional destruction of at least thirty-three structures largely consistent with civilian dwellings in the vicinity of `Amara, Blue Nile, Sudan. SSP’s analysis of imagery captured on 27 November 2011 indicates a firefight apparently involving heavy armor or other tracked vehicles against dug-in fighting positions occurred sometime between 11 and 27 November. |
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Radius of Operations: Sudan Increases Air Attack Capacity 15 November 2011
The Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP) has confirmed through the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative’s analysis of DigitalGlobe satellite imagery that the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) are rapidly working to enhance air strike and air assault capacity in two airbases recently captured from rebels in Sudan’s Blue Nile border area.
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In Close Proximity: Alleged Abduction, Detention and Extra-Judicial Killings by Abu Tira 13 October 2011
The Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP) has corroborated multiple eyewitness accounts and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) reports alleging that the Government of Sudan’s (GoS) Central Reserve Police (CRP) unit engaged in the unlawful abduction, detention, and extrajudicial killing of civilians in Kadugli, South Kordofan, Sudan.
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State of Emergency: Threat of SAF Attack on Kurmuk 23 September 2011 SSP is issuing a human security warning in this report for Kurmuk and the surrounding area due to the strong likelihood of potential SAF attack in the near future which may result in the use of indiscriminate and disproportionate force. |
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Special Report: Evidence of Burial of Human Remains in Kadugli, South Kordofan 24 August 2011 SSP's identification on 14 July 2011 of a cluster of white bundles in Kadugli as consistent with human remains wrapped in white plastic tarps or body bags was controversial at the time. Although publicly questioned by a US government official, it has now been established by SSP through the collection of additional imagery and eyewitness reports. |
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Cover-Up: New Evidence of Three Mass Graves in South Kordofan 17 August 2011 SSP has identified three new apparent mass grave sites in and around Kadugli in South Kordofan, Sudan based on an analysis of DigitalGlobe satellite imagery and multiple eyewitness accounts. The three alleged mass grave sites identified in this report are separate from and in addition to the three apparent mass graves south of the Tilo School in Kadugli shown in SSP’s 14 July 2011 report. |
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Crime Scene: Evidence of Mass Graves in Kadugli, Sudan 14 July 2011 SSP has found evidence consistent with allegations that the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and Government of Sudan-aligned (GoS) militias have apparently engaged in a campaign of systematic mass killing of civilians in Kadugli, South Kordofan. Under the Rome Statute and other international humanitarian law, the systematic killing of civilians in peace or war by their own government can constitute crimes against humanity. |
Background
SSP was launched as a pilot project on December 29, 2010, as the result of an unprecedented collaboration between actor and activist George Clooney and Enough Project co-founder John Prendergast with HHI, Not On Our Watch, the Enough Project, Google, the United Nations UNITAR Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT), DigitalGlobe, and Trellon, LLC.
HHI continues to provide system-wide research, leads the daily collection, analysis, and corroboration of on-the-ground reports and DigitalGlobe satellite imagery. The Enough Project contributes field reports and leads on advocacy and communications strategy, and, together with Not On Our Watch, and our Sudan Now partners, puts pressure on policymakers by urging the public to act.
SSP’s pilot mission, tracking threats to civilians in the border region between North and South Sudan, has been an unprecedented success. Since its inception, SSP has captured near-real time evidence of the escalating violence in Abyei and South Kordofan, Sudan, including North Sudan’s invasion of oil-producing Abyei in May, 2011 and alleged mass gravesites in Kadugli. SSP’s notable successes to date offer clear proof of concept. SSP successfully predicted almost down to the military unit the Government of Sudan’s invasion of the Abyei region and subsequent displacement of Abyei’s civilian population, and provided in near-real time the UN Security Council and the International Criminal Court with irrefutable, visual evidence of war crimes and possible crimes against humanity.
Through HHI’s analysis of DigitalGlobe imagery and ground-level reports, including the field reports of the Enough Project, SSP has become the first NGO to capture imagery from space of apparent body bags being put in mass graves; of tanks assembling to strike at civilian populations; of the smoldering remains of grass and mud homes only hours after villages have been burnt to the ground; and of Sudanese soldiers and paramilitaries loading trucks with looted supplies from a World Food Programme compound.
In less than a year, SSP has helped transform human rights documentation during armed conflict and redefined the possible applications of satellite imagery analysis for preventing atrocities and holding perpetrators of war crimes to account.
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