Mapping Zimbabwe atrocities
April 1st, 2008
Zimbabwe democracy and human rights advocacy group Sokwanele built a compelling Google maps hack that visualizes news reports of the election-related human rights violations in Zimbabwe.
Such a high-bandwidth service won’t enjoy much viewership in Zimbabwe, where mobile phones and SMS are the new political technologies of choice.
But the Sokwanele map is a powerful way to reach international audiences. In one glance it conveys the larger patterns of what’s going on, and it lets people zoom in and link off for more detail about individual events.
(“Sokwanele” means “Enough is enough.”)
Count me confused. I haven’t heard a single report of pre- or post-election violence.
After clicking around, I suppose it’s partly that the site takes a much broader definition of “political violence” than I was expecting. Also, I do suppose it’s thoroughly possible that some of this just isn’t being reported and/or I’m not seeing those reports.
In any case, a very cool mashup.
David: If that’s the case, you’re probably relying on mainstream American news sources for your news. Please check in once in a while with overseas news sources or at least scan the New York Times. (And of course, to see reports of violence in Zimbabwe, follow the links on the map that’s the subject of this post!)