Farrow Encourages Activism

The United States must take decisive action against genocide in Darfur by appointing a special envoy and stepping up involvement in the region, said activist and award-winning actress Mia Farrow at an Institute of Politics event last night.

Speaking to a small group of Harvard students and Darfur advocates, Farrow cited horrors she witnessed on her many trips to the region as evidence that citizens must urge politicians to lobby for new policies concerning the genocide.

Though she is best known for her cinematic and television roles, Farrow has recently taken up the mantle of human rights activist, focusing particular attention on the genocide in Darfur, where hundreds of thousands have been killed since 2003.

Farrow focused on her own accounts of the widespread bloodshed and violence she saw on her most recent 4-week visit there for much of the event.

“There were tribes where 100 percent of women over the age of eight had been raped,” said Farrow, who showed images of victims during her presentation. She said that approximately 40 percent of children in the region were malnourished, and that many large villages had been reduced to ruins.

Farrow said she witnessed the destruction of one village, in which 60 people were burned alive.

“Families are stuck wandering, not sure if they’ll find food or water, not sure if their attackers will come find them,” she said.

Farrow called for UN sanctions, arms embargoes, and the appointment of a special envoy to the region to stop the bloodshed.

“The Obama Administration has not yet appointed a special envoy to Sudan,” she said, adding that American citizens must call their representatives and demand action.

“We must protect these citizens whose government cannot or will not protect them,” she said.

According to Farrow, China is a major force in enabling the killing, as the Chinese government has helped fund the country’s arms purchases.

China has also exercised its veto power in the UN Security Council, blocking efforts to sanction Sudan in 2007.

Joanna I. Naples-Mitchell ’10, a member of the Harvard Darfur Action Group, said she believed Farrow’s proposed measures would produce positive change in Darfur.

“An envoy to Sudan should be our number one priority” Naples-Mitchell said.

The event—which took place at the IOP’s John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum—was co-sponsored by the University Committee on Human Rights Studies, the Harvard Human Rights Advocates, and the Harvard Darfur Action Group.