Satellite images have long been useful to aid workers and governments in planning humanitarian assistance. But the increase in availability of high-resolution commercial imagery taken from the heavens is now helping human rights workers document abuses on the ground.

UNOSAT, a U.N. programme set up to put satellite imagery at the disposal of the relief and reconstruction community, has been using commercial satellites to hone in on the conflict between Georgia and Russia in South Ossetia. Analysis by UNOSAT experts shows patterns of destruction that may be consistent with evidence of ethnic attacks gathered by Human Rights Watch researchers working in the region.

UNOSAT's maps document fires burning in ethnic Georgian villages around Tskhinvali, capital of South Ossetia, between August 7 and 16. And UNOSAT's experts conclude it is highly likely the fires were directly or indirectly linked to the armed conflict.

Human Rights Watch goes a step further, saying the patterns on the ground show that the destruction of villages was "caused by intentional burning and not armed conflict".

"Human Rights Watch researchers personally witnessed Ossetian militias looting and burning down ethnic Georgian villages during their research in the area," Rachel Denber, deputy director of the Europe and Central Asia division of Human Rights Watch, said in a news release. "These satellite images indicate just how widespread the torching of these villages has been in the last two weeks."

UNOSAT's maps also show extensive damage to buildings in the area between Kekhvi and Tskhinvali, with an estimated 1,030 buildings affected. Of this total, 787 were identified as destroyed and 243 severely damaged.

Ethnic Georgian witnesses from Tamarasheni told Human Rights Watch they had seen Russian tanks systematically looting and burning as well as firing into ethnic Georgian homes in this area.

"All of this adds up to compelling evidence of war crimes and grave human rights abuses," Denber said. "This should persuade the Russian government it needs to prosecute those responsible for these crimes."

The conflict in Georgia is just one example of satellite imagery being used to document alleged abuses.

USAID has long used commercial satellite imagery for its work in Darfur. USAID chief Andrew Natsios says on the agency's website: "In a functional village you see trees, and the houses will all have cone-shaped roofs made of grass. And you can see...goats, cows, dogs - and you'll see people walking around." In destroyed villages, "you can see the walls, which means the roofs have been burned down or destroyed, and you won't see any animals, any people, or any trees because they've been all burned."

Eritrea used high-resolution imagery to document the alleged destruction of Eritrean public and private infrastructure by Ethiopian forces as part of evidence to an international claims commission established at the Hague to settle claims disputes.

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