Angelina Jolie Secures Unprecedented Public Commitments from Sierra Leone President; Sierra Leone President agrees to release a timeframe for implementation of TRC Recommendations and to Involve Local NGOs in process.

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone -- Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie met today with Sierra Leone President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, and Attorney General, F. M. Carew, as part of a three-day trip to urge the implementation of recommendations made by the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).

In an unprecedented statement of public commitment to the TRC process, President Kabbah promised that his Government would release a detailed policy paper on plans to implement the recommendations within a maximum of two weeks of receipt of the final written version of the TRC report. The President also extended an invitation to local civil society groups, some of whose representatives participated in the meeting, to take an active role in shaping the so-called 'TRC White Paper' by submitting proposals and comments directly to the Attorney General.

Jolie traveled to Sierra Leone with WITNESS (www.witness.org), the New York-based organization that deploys video and technology to promote human rights causes worldwide. "The President has taken an important step towards implementing the recommendations," said Jolie. "I will be bringing more international focus here and coming back to ensure that the TRC recommendations do not drop off the agenda."

Following the meeting, Jolie also announced that once the White Paper is issued and the process of implementing changes is in progress, she would rally further support from the international community to make fresh funds available to assist the Government.

"We are very encouraged by the President's commitments and look forward to working together to help create a sustainable peace for Sierra Leone," said WITNESS Executive Director Gillian Caldwell. "We are deeply grateful to Ms. Jolie for her contribution to re-energizing this important process, and for her ongoing commitment to Sierra Leone."

It is Jolie's second trip to Sierra Leone, where a devastating 11-year conflict came to an end in 2002. Millions of citizens lost their homes and families, and hundreds of thousands suffered rape, mutilation and torture at the hands of rebels from the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), dissident soldiers from the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) and various pro-Government forces. In a traumatized and impoverished nation, over half a million children have been left orphaned.

The TRC was one of the flagship institutions provided for by the Lome Agreement in 1999 to secure the transition from war to peace. The TRC's main functions were to create an impartial historical record of the armed conflict, to attribute responsibility for the atrocities to individuals, groups and governments and to recommend measures to prevent recurrence. The TRC acted as a forum for truth telling, a non-partisan investigative body and a catalyst for the longer-term process of reconciliation.

Jolie is also Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Refugee Agency.

Video footage and photographs of Angelina Jolie's visit to Sierra Leone with WITNESS Executive Director Gillian Caldwell will be available from WITNESS in Freetown as of May 12 and in the United States as of May 13. Note that copies of "Witness to Truth" are available for broadcast now in both English and Sierra Leone's Krio language.

WITNESS (www.witness.org) uses the power of video to open the eyes of the world to human rights abuses. By partnering with local organizations and empowering human rights defenders, WITNESS brings often unseen images, untold stories and seldom heard voices to the attention of key decision makers, the media, and the general public. Over the past decade, WITNESS has partnered with more groups in more than 50 countries, catalyzing grassroots activism, political engagement, and lasting change.