Publications

    Not On Our Watch, The Enough Project, Google, United Nations UNITAR Operational Satellite Applications Programme he (UNOSAT), Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, DigitalGlobe, and LLC Trellon. 4/2011. The Razing: Intentional Burning Confirmed at El-Feid, Nuba Mountains.Abstract

    The Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP) has confirmed that at least 356 structures in the town of el-Feid, located in the Nuba Mountains region of South Kordofan State, Sudan, have been razed. There is evidence that an area in Um Barmbita has also been burned, but no visible structures appear to have been destroyed. SSP cannot confirm based on the imagery collected whether the scorched area in Um Barmbita was intentionally burned. There is evidence of scorching at several points between and around the two communities, which are an estimated 15 to 20 kilometers apart. The razing of el-Feid underscores the rising tensions in the Nuba Mountain region as next month's South Kordofan State gubernatorial elections approach.

    Not On Our Watch, The Enough Project, Google, The United Nations UNITAR Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT), DigitalGlobe, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, and LLC Trellon. 4/2011. Range of Attack: Deployment of SAF Attack Helicopters, Tanks Near Abyei.Abstract
    In recent weeks, the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) has deployed heavy offensive weaponry, including attack helicopters and tanks, at Muglad, the reported headquarters of the SAF's 15th Division. These units include two helicopters consistent with Mi-24 Hind gunships, at least nine main battle tanks consistent with T-55s, and trucks consistent with support vehicles needed for the forward deployment of heavy armor. The helicopters, tanks and support vehicles are all within attack range of the Abyei region, approximately 175 kilometers away from Abyei town and 100 kilometers from Abyei's border as demarcated by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2009.
    Harvard Humanitarian Initiative and UNITAR/UNOSAT. 3/2011. Abyei Incursion: Evidence of Northern-Aligned Forces Deployed to Abyei Region, Sudan.Abstract

    According to media reports released on 20 March 2011, Sudan's federal Ministry of the Interior recently deployed approximately 1,500 northern police to the environs of Bongo, Diffra, and Goli in northern Abyei, Sudan. Northern representatives, including the spokesman of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), Colonel Khalid Sa'ad Al-Sawarmi, have denied that the northern military deployed troops to Abyei. However, satellite imagery collected by DigitalGlobe and analyzed by the Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP) corroborates the reported presence of encampments consistent with military/police installations in close proximity to Bongo, Diffra and Goli.

    Harvard Humanitarian Initiative’s Human Rights Documentation Team, Carr Center Human Rights for Policy, DigitalGlobe, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, and UNITAR/UNOSAT. 3/2011. Flashpoint: Abyei.Abstract

    The human security situation in the Abyei region of Sudan has rapidly deteriorated in the past week due to renewed violence. Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP) has confirmed through the analysis of DigitalGlobe satellite imagery that buildings consistent with civilian infrastructure appear to have been intentionally burned Maker Abior and Todach villages. Some 100 people in the Abyei region have reportedly died in the clashes to date. According to the humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), tens of thousands of civilians have either been displaced by fighting or fled due to fear of further attacks.

    Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, UNITAR/UNOSAT, and DigitalGlobe. 3/2011. Frontline Abyei: Evidence of Military Escalation in Abyei Region.Abstract
    Following the recent razing of three villages, there has been increased military activity in and around the contested Abyei region of Sudan during the past week. Actors aligned with both the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) appear to have improved their defensive positions and mobilized additional offensive capacity, including, in one case, vehicles consistent with the transport of heavy armor. Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP) has determined that in some parts of the Abyei region, elements believed to be aligned with the SAF and SPLA now lie within an approximately 20 to 40 kilometer range of each other. SSP also concludes that the SAF and SPLA appear to now have more units arrayed within 100 kilometers of each other in and around Abyei than at any time in the past two months of SSP's monitoring of the region.
    UNITAR/UNOSAT and Harvard Humanitarian Initiative. 3/2011. Apparent Intentional Destruction of Tajalei Village.Abstract

    At least 300 buildings at Tajalei village, Abyei Region, Sudan were burned sometime between March 4 and March 6, 2011, according to Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP) analysis of DigitalGlobe satellite imagery. Approximately two-thirds of those structures appear to be consistent with civilian residential structures, known as tukuls. The pattern in which these buildings were apparently burned is consistent with the intentional targeting of civilian infrastructure. SSP has confirmed that three villages in the Abyei region have been intentionally destroyed between Wednesday, March 2 and Sunday, March 6 2011.

    Harvard Humanitarian Initiative. 1/2011. Disaster Relief 2.0: The Future of Information Sharing in Humanitarian Emergencies.Abstract

    This report analyzes how the humanitarian community and the emerging volunteer and technical communities worked together in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, and recommends a four-part framework to improve coordination between these two groups in future emergencies. The report was researched and written by a team at HHI, in partnership with Vodafone Foundation, United Nations Foundation, and UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

    Jennifer Chan. 9/2010. Applied Technologies Module Evaluation.Abstract

    In 2010, the Humanitarian Studies Course incorporated applied technologies into the coursework for the second consecutive year. The goal of this evaluation report is to reflect upon and determine the next steps for the Applied Technology Learning Module and to better understand its impact on participant learning during the 2010 Humanitarian Studies Course. This evaluation concludes that improvements in 1) didactics and preparation 2) integration of crowdsourcing and GIS technology 3) satellite communications and 4) volunteer capacity resulted in a successful educational experience for future humanitarian responders.

    Patrick Vinck and Phuong Pham. 1/2010. “Outreach Evaluation: The International Criminal Court in the Central African Republic.” The International Journal of Transitional Justice.Abstract

    Public information and outreach have emerged as one of the fundamental activities of transitional justice mechanisms. Their objective is to raise public awareness, knowledge and participation among affected communities. Despite this increased focus, understanding of the role, impact and effectiveness of various outreach strategies remains limited, as is understanding of communities’ knowledge, perceptions and attitudes about transitional justice mechanisms, including their expectations. The study discussed in this article was designed to evaluate International Criminal Court (ICC) outreach programs in the Central African Republic.

    Patrick Meier and Jennifer Leaning. 9/2009. Applied Technology to Crisis Mapping and Early Warning in Humanitarian Settings.Abstract

    The purpose of this Working Paper Series on Crisis Mapping is to briefly analyze the current use, and changing role, of information communication technology (ICT) in conflict early warning, crisis mapping and humanitarian response. The authors demonstrate that ICTs have the potential to play an increasingly significant role in three critical ways by: facilitating the communication of information in conflict zones, improving the collection of salient quantitative and qualitative conflict data, and enhancing the visualization and analysis of patterns.

    Diane Coyle and Patrick Meier. 1/2009. New Technologies in Emergencies and Conflicts: The Role of Information and Social Networks.Abstract

    This paper explores communication technology advances as an opportunity for humanitarian organizations to harness modern technology to communicate more effectively with communities affected by disasters and to allow members of those communities to communicate with each other and with the outside world. People in affected communities can recover faster if they can access and use information. A look at the use of communications technology during disasters in recent years shows that while communication advances have played a positive role, their full potential has not yet been realized.

    William Boothby. 11/2005. Cluster Bombs: Is There a Case for New Law?.Abstract

    The numerous unexploded bomblets, or submunitions, discarded on the battlefield as a result of cluster munition attacks have attracted widespread criticism, particularly from non‐governmental organizations, prompting suggestions that new international law arrangements should be agreed to address the problem. These ‘dud’ bomblets may pose a post‐conflict risk for troops and civilians alike. The humanitarian concerns raised by this hazard have been recognised for a number of years. An important debate is now under way, however, to try to identify a way of addressing the problem effectively while recognising the essential defense needs of states. Working out which, if any, developments in the law are appropriate to such a problem necessitates an analysis of existing, relevant law. There are numerous general legal principles that limit the weapons which states are permitted to employ in armed conflict. There are also important treaties applicable to particular technologies. There is, then, the legal obligation accepted by many states to review weapons plans to ensure they comply with applicable law. Of particular relevance to the cluster munition debate is the Conventional Weapons Convention (CCW), a framework treaty under which individual protocols have been negotiated to address such diverse technologies as mines and lasers. Following a seminal meeting in Nyon, Switzerland in September 2000, CCW member states started to discuss the problem of unexploded and abandoned explosive ordnance. Having clarified the nature of the problem, they negotiated a Protocol to the Convention. Its focus is the marking, clearance, removal, and destruction of explosive remnants of war.

    Michael N. Schmitt, Heather A. Harrison Dinniss, and Thomas C. Wingfield. 2004. Computers and War: The Legal Battlespace.Abstract

    The use of computers in modern warfare stretches back over decades. Computers have been employed for functions that range from managing materiel and personnel flows into an area of operations to sorting intelligence data and improving the precision capabilities of weapons. In recent conflicts, however, we have witnessed their transformation into a “means of warfare” (weapon) and modern militaries are busily developing information technology “methods of warfare.” This article briefly addresses the legal issues surrounding computer use in classic kinetic-based warfare. Attention then turns to the most significant phenomenon for humanitarian law, namely the employment of information technology during network-centric, four-dimensional operations, which increasingly characterize twentieth-first century conflict.

    HPCR and Center Security Peace Studies Gadjah Mada for and University. 7/2002. Building Sustainable Peace and Fostering Development in Papua - E Conference Report.Abstract

    From 20th June through the 5th of July 2002, the Conflict Prevention Initiative of the Harvard Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research (CPI HPCR) in cooperation with the Center for Peace and Security Studies at the University of Gadjah Mada (CSPS) carried out a series of activities under the theme: “Building sustainable peace and fostering development in Papua”. This event was an effort to gather ideas and support from those representing Papua in the fields of peacebuilding and development. Using the Internet to discuss policies in the field of conflict prevention, this CPI-CSPS event also aimed at providing a platform for spreading information and strengthening networks between participants and decision makers at the national and international levels. The event started with a roundtable discussion at the University of Gadjah Mada on 20-22 June 2002, with 8 people from Papua representing the academic world, NGOs, religious organizations, customary institutions, women’s groups and youth. The main ideas that emerged during this discussion then became entry points for the e-conference, an online virtual discussion online in Indonesian. The e-conference took place between 24 June and 25 July 2002, with the participation of 89 people from various backgrounds. Simultaneously, an e-forum was carried out in English, with the participation of 32 people.

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