Abstract
The “Responsibility to Protect” (R2P) doctrine and the increasingly interventionist position of UN-mandated peacekeeping operations testify to fundamental changes in the international community’s response to humanitarian and human rights crises. Part of this development involves a growing reliance upon technology designed for the modern battlefield but adapted for peacekeeping operations, which has resulted in the emerging field of human rights-oriented Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT) analysis. Centered on visual imagery derived from remote sensing (RS) platforms such as satellites and drones, GEOINT serves to imbed distinct, militaristic epistemologies into human rights narratives. As such, this chapter explores the “vertical geopolitics” of RS imagery and questions the “view from nowhere” that underlies GEOINT. A review of the UN mission in the D.R.C (MONUSCO) highlights both the positive and negative implications that the adoption of GEOINT has had on the rhetoric and practice of crisis response and humanitarian intervention in the twenty-first century.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
Within this context, the renaming of the National Imaging and Mapping Agency (MINA) as the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is often cited as exemplary of the growing importance of geospatial intelligence as a “source in its own right,” one which serves to incorporate and facilitate more traditional forms of intelligence gathering such as Signals (SIGINT) or Human (HUMINT). See Bacastow et al. (2009, p. 38).
- 2.
In personal interviews conducted with RS specialists from both HRW and AI, the emphasis placed by these groups on ground verification was paramount. They also acknowledged the visual impact that GEOINT analysis can have on helping to define the nature of a given situation, both within the public arena and with policy-makers.
- 3.
In March of 1999, President Bill Clinton stated categorically that the use of U.S. and NATO airstrikes against Serbia were based on the notion that America had a “responsibility to stand with our allies when they are trying to save innocent lives and preserve peace, freedom, and stability…” and that such an intervention into the affairs of another state in order to avoid further tragedy was a “moral imperative” (Clinton 1999).
- 4.
ICC Chief Prosecutor, Louis Moreno-Ocampo cited the use of RS imagery in his case against President Omar Al-Bashir on charges of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity. See “Public Redacted Version of the Prosecutor’s Application Under Article 58—Annex A.” Situation in Darfur, the Sudan. 2008. International Criminal Court: Office of the Prosecutor. No.: ICC 02/05.
References
A Conversation with Jean-Marie Guéhenno. (2006). European Affairs. The European Institute, 7, 1–2. Retrieved from http://www.europeaninstitute.org/index.php/component/content/article?id=135:contemporary-peacekeeping-is-state-building-the-un-embraces-robust-peacekeeping-including-use-of-force.
Adey, P., Whitehead, M., & Williams, A. J. (2011). Introduction: Air-Target Distance, Reach and the Politics of Verticality. Theory, Culture & Society, 28(7–8), 173–187.
Apuuli, K. P. (2014). The Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (Drones) in United Nations Peacekeeping: The Case of the Democratic Republic of Congo. ASIL Insight, 18(13). https://www.asil.org/insights/volume/18/issue/13/use-unmanned-aerial-vehicles-dronesunited-nations-peacekeeping-case.
Bacastow, T., et al. (2009). Redefining Geospatial Intelligence. American Intelligence Journal, 27(1), 38–40 (National Military Intelligence Association).
Bromley, L. (2010). Relating Violence to MODIS Fire Detections in Darfur, Sudan. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 31(9), 2277–2292.
Brunstetter, D., & Braun, M. (2011). The Implications of Drones on the Just War Tradition. Ethics & International Affairs, 25(3), 337–358.
Card, B. L., & Baker, I. L. (2014). GRID: A Methodology Integrating Witness Testimony and Satellite Imagery Analysis for Documenting Alleged Mass Atrocities. Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal, 8(3), 49–61.
Clinton, W. (1999). Statement on Kosovo. Charlottesville: Miller Center at the University of Virginia. Retrieved from http://millercenter.org/president/speeches/speech-3932.
de Waal, A. (1995). Humanitarianism Unbound: The Context of the Call for Military Intervention in Africa. Trécaire Development Review, 29–45.
Dodge, M., & Perkins, C. (2009). The ‘View from Nowhere’? Spatial Politics and Cultural Significance of High-Resolution Satellite Imagery. Geoforum, 40(4), 497–501.
Evans, G., & Sahnoun, M. (2002). The Responsibility to Protect. Foreign Affairs, 81(6), 99–110.
Falco Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), Pakistan. (2016). Airforce-Technology.com. Retrieved from http://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/falco-uav/.
Graham, S. (2004). Vertical Geopolitics: Baghdad and After. Antipode, 36(1), 12–23.
Gregory, D. (2011). From a View to a Kill Drones and Late Modern War. Theory, Culture & Society, 28(7–8), 188–215.
Janaby, M. G. (2015). The Legal Status of Employees of Private Military Security Companies Participating in UN Peacekeeping Operations. Northwestern Journal of Human Rights, 13(1), 82–102.
Joint INGO Position on Humanitarian Use of UAVs. (2014, July 16). Relief Web. Retrieved from http://reliefweb.int/report/democratic-republic-congo/joint-ingo-position-humanitarian-use-uavs.
Kakaes, K. (2015, July). Chapter 10: The UN’s Drones and Congo’s War. In Drones and Aerial Observation: New Technologies for Property Rights, Human Rights, and Global Development a Primer (pp. 87–94). Washington, DC: New America Foundation.
Karlsrud, J., & Rosén, F. (2013). In the Eye of the Beholder? UN and the Use of Drones to Protect Civilians. Stability: International Journal of Security and Development, 2(2), Art. 27. https://doi.org/10.5334/sta.bo.
Kennedy, C., & Rogers, J. I. (2015). Virtuous Drones? The International Journal of Human Rights, 19(2), 211–227.
Levinger, M. (2009). Geographical Information Systems Technology as a Tool for Genocide Prevention: The Case of Darfur. Space and Polity, 13(1), 69–76.
Lyons, J. (2012). Documenting Violations of International Humanitarian Law from Space: A Critical Review of Geospatial Analysis of Satellite Imagery During Armed Conflicts in Gaza (2009), Georgia (2008) and Sri Lanka (2009). International Review of the Red Cross, 94, 866.
MONUSCO Peacekeepers Rescue 14 People from a Sinking Boat on Lake Kivu. (2014, May 8). MONUSCO. Retrieved from http://monusco.unmissions.org/Default.aspx?ctl=Details&tabid=10662&mid=14594&ItemID=20526.
Müller, L. (2015). The Force Intervention Brigade—United Nations Forces Beyond the Fine Line Between Peacekeeping and Peace Enforcement. Journal of Conflict and Security Law, 20(3), 359–380.
NGOs Against MONUSCO Drones for Humanitarian Work. (2014, July 23). IRIN News. Retrieved from http://www.irinnews.org/report/100391/ngos-against-monusco-drones-for-humanitarian-work.
Parks, L. (2001). Satellite Views of Srebrenica: Tele-visuality and the Politics of Witnessing. Social Identities, 7(4), 585–611.
Parks, L. (2009). Digging into Google Earth: An Analysis of “Crisis in Darfur.” Geoforum, 40(4), 535–545.
Perugini, N., & Gordon, N. (2015). The Human Right to Dominate. New York: Oxford University Press.
Public Redacted Version of the Prosecutor’s Application Under Article 58—Annex A. Situation in Darfur, the Sudan. (2008, May 14). International Criminal Court: Office of the Prosecutor. No.: ICC 02/05. Retrieved from https://www.icc-cpi.int/CourtRecords/CR2012_05665.PDF.
Ramsbotham, O., Miall, H., & Woodhouse, T. (2011). Contemporary Conflict Resolution. Cambridge: Polity.
Saint-Amour, P. K. (2011). Applied Modernism Military and Civilian Uses of the Aerial Photomosaic. Theory, Culture & Society, 28(7–8), 241–269.
Sandvik, K., & Lohne, K. (2014). The Rise of the Humanitarian Drone: Giving Content to an Emerging Concept. Millennium—Journal of International Studies, 43(1), 9.
Sandvik, K., et al. (2014). Humanitarian Technology: A Critical Research Agenda. International Review of the Red Cross, 96(893), 1–24.
Slim, H. (2001). Violence and Humanitarianism Moral Paradox and the Protection of Civilians. Security Dialogue, 32(3), 325–339.
Solvang, O. (2014). Razed to the Ground: Syria’s Unlawful Neighborhood Demolitions in 2012–2013. New York: Human Rights Watch.
Tuathail, G. Ó. (1996). Critical Geopolitics: The Politics of Writing Global Space (Vol. 6). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Tuathail, G. Ó. (1999). Understanding Critical Geopolitics: Geopolitics and Risk Society. The Journal of Strategic Studies, 22(2–3), 107–124.
UN. (2014). Performance Peacekeeping: Final Report of the Expert Panel on Technology and Innovation in UN Peacekeeping. United Nations.
UN Launches Unmanned Surveillance Aircraft to Better Protect Civilians in Vast DR Congo. (2013, December 3). UN News Center. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=46650#.VsyfNEvpzwI.
Unmanned Drones Used by UN Peacekeepers in the DRC. (2014, July 15). World Vision. Retrieved from http://www.worldvision.org.uk/news-and-views/latest-news/2014/july/unmanned-drones-used-un-peacekeepers-drc/.
U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation. (2015). State of GEOINT 2015. Retrieved from http://usgif.org/system/uploads/3661/original/SOG_FINAL.pdf.
Weizman, E. (2003). The Politics of Verticality: The West Bank as an Architectural Construction. In KW, Territories: Islands, Camps and Other States of Utopia. Berlin: Institute of Contemporary Art.
Weizman, E. (2011). The Least of All Possible Evils: Humanitarian Violence from Arendt to Gaza. London: Verso Books.
Williams, A. (2013). Re-orientating Vertical Geopolitics. Geopolitics, 18(1), 225–246.
World Leaders Recommit to Modernize 120,000-Strong UN Peacekeeping Force. (2015, September 28). UN News Center. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?newsid=52015#.v2qoomn_wvu.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Walker, J.R. (2018). The Rise of GEOINT: Technology, Intelligence and Human Rights. In: Ristovska, S., Price, M. (eds) Visual Imagery and Human Rights Practice. Global Transformations in Media and Communication Research - A Palgrave and IAMCR Series. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75987-6_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75987-6_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-75986-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-75987-6
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)