Angelina Jolie to Meet With Top Government Officials in Sierra Leone, Will Urge Them to Implement Truth Commission's Recommendations.

NEW YORK -- Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie will meet with top government officials in Sierra Leone. She is also expected to meet with President Tejan Kabbah on Wednesday, May 11, as part of a three-day trip to support the implementation of key recommendations made by the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). In her trip, Jolie will urge government officials to announce a definitive timeframe for the issuance of the promised White Paper on the implementation of TRC recommendations, and to include key civil society representatives its development. Once the White Paper is issued, Jolie will pledge her support to urging the international community to make funds available to assist the Government in the implementation of the TRC recommendations.

Jolie, who won an Academy Award for "Girl, Interrupted" and is internationally recognized for her role as Lara Croft in "Tomb Raider," is traveling to Sierra Leone with WITNESS, the New York-based organization that deploys video and technology to promote human rights causes worldwide. During her trip, Jolie will also attend a screening of "Witness to Truth," the official video produced by WITNESS (www.witness.org) to accompany the TRC report, at a gathering of civil society groups in the British Council auditorium in Freetown. Additionally, Jolie will be meeting with UNHCR officials and visiting local programs.

It is 29-year-old Jolie's second visit 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.

"Sierra Leone is still scarred by the war, but the people have invested a great deal of courage and hope in the truth and reconciliation process," said Jolie. "It is vital that the Government acts on the TRC recommendations to ensure that history will not repeat itself."

Named Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Refugee Agency in August 2001, Jolie has visited refugee operations in the Balkans, Chad, Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Cambodia, Thailand, Pakistan and Ecuador. She has been honored with the U.N. Correspondents World Citizen Award for her outstanding efforts.

"Angelina Jolie has been instrumental in bringing attention to humanitarian causes all over the world," said WITNESS Executive Director Gillian Caldwell. "Sierra Leone was already one of the world's poorest countries when the war broke out, so the challenges it faces now are greater than ever. We are poised to call on the international community to bring renewed financial aid to Sierra Leone to implement the TRC's recommendations."

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.

Video footage and photographs of Angelina Jolie's visit to Sierra Leone with WITNESS Executive Director Gillian Caldwell will be available from WITNESS as of May 13th. 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.