Google Earth & Darfur

The SF Chronicle reports today:

To raise awareness about Darfur, Google Earth now lets users zoom into images of burned villages, wounded children.

The United Nations has said that more than 200,000 people, many of them Darfur civilians, have died and 2.5 million have been displaced in the conflict.

"We're joining [with the Holocaust Memorial Museum] in this initiative because the situation in Darfur is a global catastrophe, and because we believe technology can be a catalyst for education, for understanding and for importantly, action," Elliot Schrage, Google's vice president of global communications and public affairs, said at a press conference in Washington.

Among the hundreds of locations highlighted with icons that resemble flames and tents on Google Earth are the remnants of small villages that had allegedly been set ablaze. Users can zoom in on the black outlines of huts and livestock pens dotting the savannah.

Pop-up windows tell part of the story: For example, in Ganbi, 237 of 259 buildings are listed as being destroyed. In all, more than 1,600 damaged villages are highlighted on the service, along with overhead images of large refugee camps, where thousands of Darfur residents have fled for food and safety.

Land-based photography is made available showing what's described as a government soldier looting a home, a government helicopter that had just strafed a village below and the disfigured face of a torture victim. Images of daily life and testimonials about attacks are also available.