Australians care
Capital punishment is flourishing in many countries today. The United States of America is one of those countries. More than half of the states in the US are killing their citizens.
America's death rows are morbid, lonely and at best, very dehumanising places. When a man, woman or child resides on death row in America, it is an understatement to say "Friends are not easy to find". In all the prisons in America that warehouse those of us on death row, there are diabolical systems in place that both overtly and covertly discourage people outside from befriending prisoners in general, and death row prisoners in particular.
A group of Australians who actively oppose capital punishment are often the only people inclined to recognise the humanity of those of us condemned to death. For many on death rows all across America, the organisation known as Australians Against Executions is, through its members, the only contact we have with the outside world.
There is a deep-seated compassion and sense of fairness that seem to be an integral part of the cultural character and fabric of the Australian people, which I dare say seems to be in the decline in much if not most of America. In fact, recent history proves that as a direct result of Australians Against Executions' efforts, when an execution is about to take place, the governor of the state in question on some occasions will get more pleas for mercy from Australians than (s)he gets from Americans.
In a concerted effort to end capital punishment, there are at present about 200 members of Australians Against Executions, who correspond with abolitionist organisations in America. Many of those in that number write personal letters to US President Bill Clinton, members of Congress, senators and countless others whom they feel might be moved by their letters.
All the while those Australians maintain constant correspondence with death row prisoners, providing, in several cases, the only friendship and moral support we are privileged to have.
I would like to personally and publicly thank Australians in general, and those magnificent people among you in particular, who have chosen to enter my life offering the gifts of sincere friendship and kindness. Your individual and collective recognition of my humanity has moved and touched me deeply. I don't often attempt to speak for anyone other than myself, but I suspect that in this case I speak for many on America's death rows when I say thank you. We do appreciate your kindness, one and all.
My hope is that after reading this article, many readers who heretofore did not know of the wonderful humanitarian work being done by Australians Against Executions will be moved to join their ranks. I speak from personal experience when I say, in earnest, that if you do, you could not find yourself aligned with a finer group of people on this earth!
Australians Against Executions meet monthly in Sydney and also in Ballarat. In Sydney, meetings are held on the first Sunday of each month at 94 City Road, Chippendale (near Broadway), phone 698 1195 and ask for Karen Pedersen. Coordinators: (NSW) Stephanie Wilkinson, PO Box 518, Seven Hills NSW 2147. (Vic) Diane Senior, PO Box 1260, Mail Centre, Ballarat Vic 3354.
[The writer is a prisoner on death row in the United States. He is happy to receive letters commenting on his columns. He can be written to at: Brandon Astor Jones, EF-122216, G2-51, GD&CC, PO Box 3877, Jackson, GA 30233, USA.]