In her debut article in The Economist, Angelina Jolie demanded that perpetrators of genocide and other crimes be prosecuted to stop further atrocities in Darfur.

“Accountability is perhaps the only force powerful enough to break the cycle of violence and retribution that marks so many conflicts," Jolie, 32, wrote in a full-page essay in the political weekly’s annual spin-off issue, The World in 2008, which hits stands Wednesday.

“Through accountability we can begin the process of righting past wrongs, and even change the behavior of some of the world's worst criminals,” she said.

As a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Jolie recalled meeting a teenage boy in the Sudanese region on a recent mission. She said that he asked her why those who commit crimes against humanity are not put on trial.

“I hope that the Sudanese government will hand over the government minister and the Janjaweed militia leader who have been indicted for war crimes [by the International Criminal Court in The Hague], and that the teenager I met ... will get the trial he seeks," she wrote.

She added, "I hope that those responsible for the atrocities in Darfur will be held to account, not only for that young man's sake, but for the world's."

source: usmagazine.com