US actress offers to swap places with jailed Darfur figure

August 5, 2007 (PARIS) — UNICEF goodwill ambassador and Hollywood actress, Mia Farrow has offered to swap Suleiman Jamous’s place in a UN hospital to secure his participation in rebel talks.

In a letter addressed to Sudanese president, Farrow has offered “to take Jamous’s place, to exchange my freedom for his in the knowledge of his importance to the civilians of Darfur and in the conviction that he will apply his energies toward creating the just and lasting peace that the Sudanese people deserve and hope for.” Mia Farrow wrote.

Sudan promised the release of the SLM humanitarian coordinator to attend Arusha consultations meeting as member of a rebel group delegation. Also president al-Bashir has assured AU-UN Darfur envoys that Jamous would be enabled to quit the UN hospital.

Unfortunately, as the meeting will wrap up on Monday his release seems compromised.

Jamous is confined in a UN hospital in southern Kordofan since 22 June 2006. He was transported to this save place by the former UN envoy to Sudan to protect him from the signatory of Darfur peace agreement Minni Minawi, but also to treat him.

Mia Farrow who travelled several times to the troubled region of Darfur and eastern Chad dedicates much of her time and efforts for peace in the region. She also participates in a campaign to dissuade Chinese government to stop its blind support for Sudanese authorities.

Below the text of Mia Farrow to the Sudanese president : –

– His Excellency Lieutenant General Omar Hassan al-Bashir
– President of the Republic of Sudan
– President’ s Palace
– PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan

5 August 2007

Your Excellency:

Suleiman Jamous, the humanitarian coordinator of the Sudan Liberation
Movement, is in his 14th month of de facto administrative detention in
Kadugli. Hopes that he would be permitted to attend the Arusha talks, the
first step in a new peace process for Darfur, appear to have been
disappointed.

Suleiman Jamous is greatly respected by humanitarians like myself for his
selfless commitment to the people of Darfur and his respect for human
rights. Colleagues in Sudan tells me that his enforced absence from relief
work has made access negotiations to volatile rebel-controlled areas less
certain and more complicated.

As you are undoubtedly aware, Mr. Jamous is in need of a medical procedure
that cannot be carried out in Kadugli. His absence from Arusha is not
helpful to the peace process to which your government has said it is
committed. At the Inter-Sudanese talks in Abuja in 2005, before his
seizure, Mr. Jamous played a crucial role in bringing the SLA to the
negotiating table and in seeking reconciliation between its divided rival
factions.

Mr. Jamous, whom I know to be a man of great moral integrity, is 62 years
old, with grandchildren in the United States he has never seen.

I am therefore offering to take Mr. Jamous’s place, to exchange my freedom for his in the knowledge of his importance to the civilians of Darfur and in the conviction that he will apply his energies toward creating the just and lasting peace that the Sudanese people deserve and hope for.

On your most recent visit to Darfur only last month, you said the Sudan
Government gives top priority to development in Darfur, believing it will
promote security and stability in the region. You said: “We want the
displaced persons to return to their home areas and cultivate the land.”

I humbly request you to permit Mr. Jamous to participate in this endeavour,
for the sake of your citizens in Darfur.

I am, Your Excellency, sincerely yours

Mia Farrow

UNICEF goodwill ambassador

(ST)