Destruction visible from space

Amnesty International has released satellite images showing the complete obliteration of a settlement in Zimbabwe were 30,000 people once lived:

The London-based human rights group said the images of Porta Farm provided the best evidence to date of the devastating impact of the government's Operation Murambatsvina, or "Drive Out Trash," which has demolished many such settlements to force people back to rural areas.

The U.N. estimates 700,000 of Zimbabwe's poorest residents have lost homes, livelihoods, or both. "These satellite images are irrefutable evidence — if further evidence is even needed — that the Zimbabwean government has obliterated entire communities, completely erased them from the map, as if they never existed," said Amnesty's Africa Program director Kolawole Olaniyan.

The organization commissioned the satellite images to demonstrate the complete destruction of Porta Farm, a large, informal settlement about 20 kilometres west of the capital of Harare that was established 16 years ago and had schools, a children's centre and a mosque.

Where Porta Farm formerly stood, images show a desolate landscape of rubble and trees.

Last June, Zimbabwean police officers destroyed the homes of Porta Farm residents as part of Operation Murambatsvina, forcing thousands to sleep outdoors in the middle of winter.

The Zimbabwean government, led by authoritarian President Robert Mugabe, embarked on the operation in May 2005, saying informal settlements were not desirable and residents should return to the rural areas.

Damian P.

Posted by damian at June 1, 2006 08:05 AM