jkvw/sanwc/mmxiii dr jo-ansie van wyk member: south african council for space affairs (sacsa)...
TRANSCRIPT
JKvW/SANWC/MMXIII
Dr Jo-Ansie van Wyk
Member: South African Council for Space Affairs (SACSA)
Lecturer: Department of Political Sciences, University of South Africa (UNISA), Pretoria
SPACE FOR PEACE: USING SPACE-RELATED SCIENCE TO RESOLVE AFRICA'S CONFLICTS
AND ACHIEVE POST-CONFLICT RECONSTRUCTION
5th African Leadership Conference on Space Science and Technology for Sustainable Development (ALC), Accra, Ghana, 3-5 December 2013.
JKvW/ALC2013/GHANA
Objectives & approachObjectives & approach
• Applications • Applicators• Use of imagery of selected cases: Libya,
Sudan, Central African Republic (CAR)• Implications • African Union, continental space policy,
strategy and agency
JKvW/ALC2013/GHANA
Security & peaceSecurity & peace
• Achieved, inter alia, by use of space technology for border protection etc.
• Libya & Italian cooperation on satellite surveillance system for border protection (Nov 2013)
JKvW/ALC2013/GHANA
Utility of space technologyUtility of space technology
• Diplomatic and political (e.g. border disputes)• Humanitarian intervention (e.g. abuses & refugees)• Achieving human security & state reconstruction• Early warning: environmental crises (e.g. floods,
fires)• Forensic analysis (e.g. mass graves)• State/national security (e.g. anti-government
militias etc.)
JKvW/ALC2013/GHANA
UsersUsers
• Governments• Intergovernmental organisations (UN)• Non-state actors (non-governmental
organisations, NGOs)
JKvW/ALC2013/GHANA
Intergovernmental organisations Intergovernmental organisations
UN Institute for Training and Research / Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNITAR / UNOSAT)
• specialises in satellite imagery analysis to improve responses in respect of humanitarian crises, human insecurity, and strategic territorial & development planning
• UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
JKvW/ALC2013/GHANA
Libya Libya
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (Feb 2012 report)
Removal of Gaddafi (since 1967)Actions by Gaddafi, opposition & NATODestruction• Infrastructure (bridges, water treatment areas)• Military compounds• Buildings (factories, hospitals, houses & mosques)Military activitiesCasualties (body bags)Capture of Gaddafi
NATO airstrikes NATO airstrikes
Gaddafi compoundMilitary based next to compound
JKvW/ALC2013/GHANA
NATO
Destruction of government communication centre in Tripoli
JKvW/ALC2013/GHANA
Tawergha (Libya)
Town supported Gaddafi
Revenge crimes (despite amnesty) continue• Forced displacement of 40 000 people• 1690 damaged and destroyed infrastructure
after cessation of hostilities• > 90% caused by fire (arson) to prevent
residents from returning
JKvW/ALC2013/GHANA
JKvW/ALC2013/GHANA
JKvW/ALC2013/GHANA
Role of non-state actorsRole of non-state actors
• Civil society: Non-governmental organisations (NGOs), humanitarian organisations, universities
• Aimed against governments that act against their own population, or against the population of another country
• Also tracking environmental degradation that affect livelihoods
JKvW/ALC2013/GHANA
Sudan & South SudanSudan & South Sudan
• Three decades of civil war• Comprehensive Peace Agreement (2005)• South Sudan independence (2011)• Darfur etc.
JKvW/ALC2013/GHANA
Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP)Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP)
• George Clooney & Harvard University• Since 2010 DigitalGlobe Satellites monitor
Sudan • Images analysed and notifying policy
makers, news agencies and international organisations
JKvW/ALC2013/GHANA
SSP (cont.)SSP (cont.)
Detected warning signs such as: • Troop build-ups & movements• Construction of landing strips• Destruction of infrastructure such as bridges• Bombardments• Refugee movements• Violations of demilitarised zone• Scorched earth policies
JKvW/ALC2013/GHANA
Troop movementsTroop movements
Sudan Defence Force troop movements in offense against Sudanese Revolutionary Front (September and October 2013)
JKvW/SANWC/MMXIII
JKvW/ALC2013/GHANA
Attacks against civiliansAttacks against civilians
• 15 May 2013• South Kordofan (oil-rich and borders on
South Sudan) continues to bear brunt of recent escalation in hostilities between the rebel Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) and Darfurian Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), and the government Sudan Armed Forces (SAF)
JKvW/ALC2013/GHANA
JKvW/ALC2013/GHANA
Resources, plunder & Resources, plunder & displacementdisplacement
• December 2012• Pro-government militias gained control over
lucrative gold mines in North Darfur; a continuation of state-sponsored atrocity and plunder
• Influx of thousands of artisanal miners into Jebel 'Amer, North Darfur (Feb 2012 - Jan 2013); major displacement since
• Dec 2012: Sudan's minerals ministry declared 4000 new gold mines (yielded US$2.2 billion) operate in Jebel Amir area.
JKvW/ALC2013/GHANA
JKvW/ALC2013/GHANA
Military build-upMilitary build-up
• March 2013• Arrival of 10 newly-arrived main battle
tanks, 10 heavy transporters (HETS), and two Mi-24 helicopter gunships, in the oil-producing Sudanese border town of Heglig (South Kordofan)
• Thus: total tanks in the greater Heglig area to 22; equivalent of two tank companies
JKvW/ALC2013/GHANA
JKvW/ALC2013/GHANA
Scorched earth attacks on Scorched earth attacks on civilians & villagescivilians & villages
• Nov 2012• 13 villages and approximately 82 square km
of fields and forests southwest of the town of al Abassiya (Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan) burned
JKvW/ALC2013/GHANA
JKvW/ALC2013/GHANA
Mass graves in Sudan (2011)Mass graves in Sudan (2011)
JKvW/ALC2013/GHANA
JKvW/ALC2013/GHANA
Central African Republic (CAR)Central African Republic (CAR)
• Amnesty International & Human Rights Watch
• Pres François Bozizé overthrown in March 2013
• Country run by Pres Michel Djotodia of a Seleka coalition
• Recent human rights abuses amid spiralling violence by armed groups supporting Bozizé; and government security forces
Evidence of 485 homes torched (yellow dots) in Bouca in CAR
(Nov 2013)
JKvW/ALC2013/GHANA
JKvW/ALC2013/GHANA
JKvW/ALC2013/GHANA
Politics of imagery and politics Politics of imagery and politics of the use of imageryof the use of imagery
• Access to imagery: how, who and cost?• Use and analyses of imagery: by whom, for
what purpose?• Responses to analyses: by whom and
how?• Impact on affected areas and populations:
how, when and where?
JKvW/ALC2013/GHANA
Implications
• Space no longer domain of states only• Private monitoring of government and
country• Google Earth• Rise of private authority• Accessing remote and/or restricted areas
JKvW/ALC2013/GHANA
Implications (cont.)
• Ethical element to surveillance• Normative: brother’s keeper• Human rights organisations capitalised on
satellite technology to document violations• Amnesty International: Eyes on Darfur
(since 2006): ‘new ground in protecting human rights by allowing people around the world to literally "watch over" and protect twelve intact, but highly vulnerable, villages using satellite technology’
JKvW/ALC2013/GHANA
Implications (cont.)
• International investigations increasingly using evidence collected through satellites
• Then-ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo used satellite imagery of destroyed villages in his July 2008 application for an arrest warrant for Sudanese Pres Omar Al-Bashir on charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide
• Bashir called on AU to act against spy satellites (2012)
JKvW/ALC2013/GHANA
African Union (AU)African Union (AU)
• Constitutive Act (2002)
• Peace and Security Council (PSC)
JKvW/ALC2013/GHANA
AU (cont.)AU (cont.)
AU Policy Framework on Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development (PCRD) adopted in 2006
• Consolidate peace and prevent relapse into violence
• Address root causes of conflict• Improve planning & implementation of
reconstruction activities• Enhance coordination between and among
actors engaged in PCRD
JKvW/ALC2013/GHANA
AU (cont.)AU (cont.)
• Idea of African Space Agency surfaced ca. 2010
• Feasibility study concluded• 2012: additional support for establishment
JKvW/ALC2013/GHANA
AU (cont.)AU (cont.)
• Establishment of AU-PCRD Centre recommended in Jan. 2012
• Egypt & Uganda offered to host the Centre• July 2012: AU Commission recommended
that proposed AU-PCRD could have satellite institutions, located in different regions of the continent
• These could specialise on specific issues falling under the mandate of the AU-PCRD Centre
JKvW/ALC2013/GHANA
African Space Policy: African Space Policy: ObjectivesObjectives
1. Addressing user needs • Harness the potential of space science
2. Accessing space services • Strengthen the space technology base
3. Developing the regional market • Develop a sustainable and vibrant space industry
4. Adopting good governance and management • Adopt good corporate governance
5. Promoting international cooperation • Promote and African led space agenda
JKvW/ALC2013/GHANA
African Space PolicyAfrican Space Policy
Draft Policy endorsed by AMCOST Oct 2013 meeting
Strong focus on commercialisation and regulation of space arena in Africa
Little focus on conflict resolution; mere reference ‘to derive optimal socio-economic benefits that both improve quality of life and create wealth for Africans’
JKvW/ALC2013/GHANA
African Space Policy (cont.)African Space Policy (cont.)
Recognition of use of space: ‘Space presents a unique opportunity for cooperation and sharing of enabling infrastructure (including data) in proactively managing, among other things... peacekeeping missions and conflicts.’
To be adopted in 2014Development of African Space Strategy next
JKvW/ALC2013/GHANA
RecommendationsRecommendations
• African Space PolicyAfrican Space Policy: : stronger focus on conflict resolution and post conflict reconstruction required
• African Space StrategyAfrican Space Strategy: : focus on using space to achieve peace
JKvW/ALC2013/GHANA
Recommendations (cont.)Recommendations (cont.)
• African UnionAfrican Union: : Resolve conflicts, remove impunity of leaders, address non-state armed groups
• African Space AgencyAfrican Space Agency: : establish a dedicated Directorate to liaise with the PSC on conflict resolution and post conflict reconstruction
JKvW/ALC 2013/GHANA
Thank you.