Sub-Saharan Africa

SSP monitoring of the region provided the first public evidence confirming some of the reports of SAF deployment in South Kordofan and checkpoints on the roads north of Abyei.

In this working paper, the authors seek to assess the "nature and scale of violence in Darfur in a way that is both directly useful in the design of peace support missions and policies, while also more broadly demonstrating the importance of rigorous data collection before and throughout these missions in order to arrive at evidence-based conclusions about the nature of violence and effectiveness of applied responses." The authors explore the challenges of constructing an evidence base for peace support operations and the limits to inferences that can be made about civilian protection in Darfur using existing data sources.

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.

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.

Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP) has identified through analysis of DigitalGlobe satellite imagery captured on 4 July 2011 an apparent Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) convoy travelling through Kadugli town consistent with an at least regiment-sized unit, which is equal to approximately 1000 troops. The convoy is at least 2km in length, and could be potentially longer. There are at least 80 vehicles visible in the apparent convoy, including 49 light vehicles, cargo trucks, a vehicle consistent with a fuel or water tanker, heavy transports and towed artillery. The convoy is of significant size and appears to be heading to the north, though its origin, destination and total length remains unknown.

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.

Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP) has confirmed through the analysis of DigitalGlobe satellite imagery collected on 27 May the intentional destruction of approximately one-third of all civilian structures in Abyei town by the Government of Sudan and northern-aligned militia forces. SSP has documented multiple violations of international humanitarian law in Abyei town. These abuses can constitute war crimes, including violations of the Geneva Conventions, and in some cases they may represent crimes against humanity.

Decades of Political Instability, state fragility, mismanagement, and a series of armed conflicts have led the Central African Republic (CAR) to a state of widespread violence and poverty. This study provides a better understanding of the scope and magnitude of violence in CAR and its consequences, as well as a snapshot of what the citizens of CAR believe is the best way to restore peace. It also examines the issue of justice and accountability for the serious crimes that were committed. This report provides a detailed analysis of results on a wide range of topics related to the population’s priorities and needs, exposure to violence, security, community cohesion and engagement, access to information, conflict resolution, reintegration of former combatants, transitional justice, and reparations for victims.

Satellite Sentinel Project's (SSP) analysis of DigitalGlobe satellite imagery has found evidence supporting multiple reports that Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) are conducting aerial and artillery bombardment in the Nuba Mountains region of South Kordofan, Sudan. Fixed wing aircraft consistent with an Antonov-24/26, Yak-40, and two SU-25K Frogfoot ground attack aircraft can be seen at El Obeid airbase as of 28 June. Five helicopters, including four consistent with Hind helicopter gunships, are visible as well.

This report captures the lessons learned during a project titled, “Children on the Move: Using Satellite Data Analysis in Conflict/Famine-Affected Areas.” This document details the project’s progression and the rationale for transitioning from satellite imagery analysis to agent-based modeling as the primary mode of analysis. This project was conducted in collaboration with the Governance Lab at New York University, the Signal Program on Human Security and Technology at Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, and UNICEF. 

This guide outlines the tools and techniques to establish a foundation for visual analysis and discusses how these techniques can assist in identifying notable landscape features pertaining to agriculture, settlements, water catchment, and livestock in northern Somalia. To the knowledge of the Signal Program analysts, there is no systematic open-source remote sensing documentation of frequently occurring natural and man-made features in Somalia. This guide helps users to identify and analyze these features, particularly humanitarian practitioners supporting activities in the Horn of Africa. This project, titled “Children on the Move: Using Satellite Data Analysis in Conflict/Famine-Affected Areas,” was carried out in collaboration with UNICEF, the GovLab at NYU, and the Signal Program on Human Security and Technology at Harvard Humanitarian Initiative.

This study explores how pastoralists respond to changing environments in Somaliland . An agent-based model is used to simulate the movement of nomadic pastoralists based on typologically diverse, historical data of environmental, interpersonal, and transactional variables in Somaliland and Puntland between 2008 and 2018. Through subsequent application of spatial analysis such as choropleth maps, kernel density mapping, and standard deviational ellipses, we characterize the resultant pastoralist population distribution in response to these variables.

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.

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.

Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP) has confirmed through the analysis of DigitalGlobe imagery that the southern-aligned base at Todach has been recently razed; evidence consistent with an attack on that location by armored vehicles is visible. The southern-aligned base at Tajalei, which was allegedly attacked on 21 May, does not appear to be visibly damaged. The base may have been abandoned by Southern units, however. Additionally, imagery shows fires burning in the town of Dungop and another point near Abyei town, consistent with reports that buildings are being burned by northern-aligned forces in the Abyei region.