Clooney, Google to Become 'Anti-Genocide Paparazzi'

As southern Sudan votes on a secession referendum Jan. 9, sparking fears of a new civil war with the north, someone will be watching: George Clooney. And the actor hopes you’ll watch, too, via his new Satellite Sentinel Project website, the AP reports. The idea: Train a bunch of cameras on Sudan in an effort to spotlight the region—and hopefully halt genocide and war crimes. “We are the anti-genocide paparazzi,” Clooney tells Time.

The project, a joint effort with Google, the UN, and anti-genocide organizations, will provide real-time satellite surveillance of the border, because “it’s a lot harder to commit mass atrocities in the glare of the media spotlight,” and Clooney wants Sudanese leaders “to enjoy the level of celebrity attention that I usually get,” he says. “This is as if this were 1943 and we had a camera inside Auschwitz and we said, 'OK, if you guys don't want to do anything about it, that's one thing. But you can't say you did not know.’”