What Can Go Right? GIS, Mass Graves and Human Rights
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Arthur Gill Green, Directeur, et professeur de géographie environnementale et géomatique, Département de géographie, des sciences de la terre et environnementales, Collège Okanagan, Raïss Tinmaung, Directeur exécutif du Réseau des droits de l'homme des Rohingyas (RHRN), Scott Stevens
Co-fondateur du groupe de travail sur la justice transitionnelle.
Les applications récentes des géosciences et des technologies géospatiales relatives aux droits de l'homme, ont permis de documenter des crimes contre l'humanité et des crimes de guerre, de documenter des paysages culturels menacés et de révéler des preuves de la présence éventuelle de fosses communes. Dans ce panel, nous examinons des études de cas d'approches géoscientifiques et de technologies géospatiales utilisées par des organisations de réfugiés, des chercheurs universitaires et des documenteurs des droits de l'homme au Myanmar et en Corée du Nord. Dans l'État de Rakhine, le gouvernement birman a perpétré une campagne de nettoyage ethnique contre le peuple Rohingya. En l'absence d'accès sur le terrain, la technologie géospatiale aide les documentalistes à localiser les sites pour identifier les victimes, soutenir les efforts de recherche de la vérité et de commémoration, et recueillir des documents sur les crimes contre l'humanité. En Corée du Nord, le groupe de travail sur la justice transitionnelle a utilisé l'imagerie satellite et la technologie SIG lors d'entretiens avec des évadés nord-coréens pour géolocaliser les sites de meurtres sanctionnés par l'État, les lieux où l'État se décharge des morts et les lieux officiels susceptibles de contenir des documents ou d'autres preuves liées à ces événements.
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Dr. Arthur Gill Green, Department Chair and College Professor of Environmental Geography and Geomatics, Department of Geography, Earth, and Environmental Sciences Okanagan College, Raïss Tinmaun, Executive Director | Rohingya Human Rights Network (RHRN), Scott Stevens, Co-founder, Communications director and Global project manager, Transitional Justice Working Group
Recent applications of geoscience and geospatial technologies to human rights issues have helped document crimes against humanity and war crimes, document cultural landscapes under threat, and reveal evidence of possible areas of mass graves. At the same time, this applied research has revealed exciting new research frontiers for geographers. In this panel, we examine case studies of geoscience approaches and geospatial technologies being used by refugee organisations, academic researchers, and human rights documenters in Myanmar and North Korea. In Rakhine state, the Burmese government has perpetrated an ethnic cleansing campaign against the Rohingya people. Without on-the-ground access, geospatial technology helps documenters locate sites to identify victims, support truth-seeking and memorialization efforts, and collect documentation of crimes against humanity. In North Korea, the Transitional Justice Working Group has worked satellite imagery and GIS technology during interviews with North Korean escapees to geolocate sites of state-sanctioned killing, where the dead are disposed of by the state, and official locations which may contain documents or other evidence related to these events.
Geographical mapping of sites connected to human rights abuses often uses open source investigation (OSINT) techniques to provide important information about patterns of killing and burial that are often not visible in individual interviewee testimonies and allows documentation of historically important cultural landscapes. During this seminar we will use a structured set of questions to talk about the challenges, potential, and lessons learned in these processes.
Arthur Gill Green is a geospatial scientist with expertise in environmental governance and human rights issues. He is also an open education advocate and a consultant with over 20 years experience leading projects on forensic geospatial science, Sustainability & GIScience curriculum development, and agricultural land management.
Raïss Tinmaung is a Rohingya from Toronto, and originally from Akyab (Sittwe). He is the founder and director of Rohingya Human Rights Network (RHRN). He has led campaigns, petitions, peaceful rallies, and new chapter formations of RHRN across Canada.
Scott Stevens is a co-founder of the Transitional Justice Working Group where he serves as the communications director and global project manager. TJWG’s global human rights documentation knowledge sharing initiative, Access Accountability, connects grassroots human rights documenters to experts and practitioners in documentation methodology, international law, forensic science, data science, advocacy, and technology to support accountability efforts in contexts of grave human rights abuse. Here are his contact informations: web site, Twitter, and newsletter.