Launch of Innovative Digital Tool to Help Expose Patterns of Israeli Violations in Gaza
An investigative online tool mapping Israeli attacks in Gaza during the conflict of July and August 2014 has been unveiled by Amnesty International and Forensic Architecture. Its purpose is to help push for accountability for war crimes and other violations of international humanitarian law.
The Gaza Platform enables the user to explore and analyze data about Israel’s 2014 military operation in Gaza. The preliminary data currently plotted on the Platform, which will be updated over the coming months, already highlights a number of patterns in the attacks by Israeli forces that indicate that grave and systemic violations were committed.
An investigative online tool mapping Israeli attacks in Gaza during the conflict of July and August 2014 has been unveiled by Amnesty International and Forensic Architecture. Its purpose is to help push for accountability for war crimes and other violations of international humanitarian law.
The Gaza Platform enables the user to explore and analyze data about Israel’s 2014 military operation in Gaza. The preliminary data currently plotted on the Platform, which will be updated over the coming months, already highlights a number of patterns in the attacks by Israeli forces that indicate that grave and systemic violations were committed.
John Ferguson February of 2012.
John Ferguson spent more then 3 decades on death row for murders that he committed in the late 1970's. It is also important to note the John had a 40+ history of mental illness. He was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. This was confirmed by several prison doctors as well. However, the state still moved forward with his execution and on August 5, 2013 John died by lethal injection.
Below is an a piece written by Sister Marina who was John's spiritual advisor and, more importantly, his friend.
Below is an a piece written by Sister Marina who was John's spiritual advisor and, more importantly, his friend.
From poverty to prison: My memories of John E. Ferguson (1948-2013)
John E. Ferguson was executed at Florida State Prison on August 5 at 6 p.m. ending 30 years of correspondence between us. I visited with John that morning, along with two of his lawyers, for about three hours knowing that we were sharing our last moments together. I could see the pain on his face and tried to be there for him. John asked me to thank all who had written to him while he was on death watch. At the end of our time together, I gave John a hug before being escorted out of the prison. Our goodbye was very painful.
I was not allowed to witness the execution (John’s lawyers were present) so I joined a group of protestors and a church group who prayed for John outside of the prison while the execution took place. Their courage and commitment gave me great comfort! A hearse departed the prison around 6:25 p.m. and as it drove away I knew that John’s life behind bars was over.
It all started in 1984 when Sr. Helen Prejean SSJ, author of Dead Man Walking, encouraged me to correspond with a prisoner on death row. She assured me that writing an inmate letters would be easy and appreciated. A pen pal on death row! What could I possibly have in common with a death row inmate?
I found John’s name in a Christian magazine without any idea of who he was or why he was at Florida State Prison. I only knew that he was on death row and would like to have some pen pals. Pen pals! That was an easy concept for me dating back to my high school days and an encouraging French teacher. I sought to improve my French but also expanded my vision of the world, much like the impact my new pen pal would have on me all of these years later. I sent John an initial letter and a few months later he responded. I didn’t know then that little by little, one letter at a time, I would come to know the world of death row in Florida. John spoke about life on death row in simple terms. He complained about the food and the terrible heat in the summer. He was
upset about the lack of visits from his family. I sensed that he faced mistrust, loneliness and abandonment along with physical and psychological suffering day after day, year after year. He also told me that my letters brought him a little hope that someone cared for him.
A couple of years after my first letter, John invited me to visit him and on one beautiful Sunday morning, I found myself at the main gate of Florida State Prison. Meeting a convicted criminal face to face scared me and I believed I was going to meet a monster capable of harming me and possibly killing me. My legs shook as I passed through the first gate, and the second gate, and the third gate, and the security check point and the four additional gates. Finally, I entered the Visiting Park where I was directed to sit at a particular table and wait. A little while later, a tall African American man joined me.
John. He had a big scar on his left arm. Our visit began awkwardly although he seemed friendly. We talked about the Bible and about our families and we
had lunch together. I left the prison with just one recurring thought: “He is a human being!” John let me know, in that first four-hour visit, that, like many other people, he had known friendship, betrayal, hopes and disappointments. A few months ago, he thanked me for having the courage to visit him that first time.
Our relationship was tense and at times difficult during the first 20 years. John held a lot of anger in his heart and did not trust me. I had to learn to accept him where he was. I continued writing to him and visiting him about once a year. About 10 years ago I learned about the terrible crimes he had committed in his youth and I was horrified by his actions. I asked God to help me to continue corresponding with him. At our next visit, I told him that I knew
why he was on death row and I told him that in spite of his past I was willing to continue supporting him. Moved by my words, John started to trust me and began sharing significant information about his childhood and adolescent years. I was appalled by his story.
Born in poverty, John knew hunger. He grew angry when he watched his classmates eat their lunches when he had nothing. He could not concentrate and failed in school. He began stealing candy from grocery stores around age 11. Eventually, he dropped out of school and his life on the streets of Miami
began, quickly landing him in a juvenile detention center. After his release, John applied for the army but was turned down because of his record and so returned to life on the streets. He was shot four times by a policeman as he left a Burger King unarmed in his early twenties. Severely wounded, he stayed a month in the hospital, fighting for his life. John found himself spending more and more time in prison mental hospitals during the years that followed. Eventually, his crimes grew more serious. He ended up on death row. One of John’s pen pals has summarized his life as follows: “John grew up behind the bars of poverty and then spent his adult years behind the bars of prison.”
I ask myself: What if John’s circumstances would have been different? What if his basic needs for food, clothing and shelter were met in childhood? What if he would have succeeded in school? What if he had found positive role models during his adolescent years? What if he would have been allowed to join the army and do something good for his country? What if he would have never been shot and severely wounded on the streets of Miami? What if he would have been given a life sentence instead of a death sentence?
I witnessed John change through the years from a very angry man into a very quiet man. Within his death row cell, John read the Bible and grew strong in his faith. John also came to appreciate those who showed him kindness and wrote to him. The 35 years John spent on death row gave him the chance to mature, to discover true friendship, to forgive, and to let go of a lot of his anger. I am very sorry that his life was cut short on August 5. I will never know what kind of a man he could have become if he had been allowed to grow older, even behind bars.
I would like to tell those who supported John’s execution that he received 35 years of terrible punishment on death row. One inmate labeled Florida’s death row as “Hotel Hell” and John agreed. Fortunately, John experienced a little kindness through his pen pals. Only a few of us wrote to him and even fewer visited him every once in a while, but we offered him our support and our friendship and he was grateful. One of his pen pals arranged for John’s burial in New England. Although she preceded him in death, her gift allowed John to be buried with dignity and in a state where capital punishment was
abolished many years ago. Another of his pen pals and I recently visited his grave. We prayed together for his eternal rest and for John’s victims. We felt peace knowing that we had accompanied a human being along a very long and painful journey that ended with a lethal injection.
My heart now goes to the 400 death row inmates in Florida. Will they know a little kindness before their time is up? How long will it be before the death penalty is abolished in Florida and elsewhere? My heart also goes out to the children that are presently growing up behind the bars of poverty. Will someone give them a helping hand so that they don’t drift away to life in the streets and, eventually, life behind bars? My experience with John has taught me that caring for our children and youth at risk can be a greater deterrent to crime than capital punishment. I long for the day when all our children are loved and cared for and our prisons have become empty.
John E. Ferguson was executed at Florida State Prison on August 5 at 6 p.m. ending 30 years of correspondence between us. I visited with John that morning, along with two of his lawyers, for about three hours knowing that we were sharing our last moments together. I could see the pain on his face and tried to be there for him. John asked me to thank all who had written to him while he was on death watch. At the end of our time together, I gave John a hug before being escorted out of the prison. Our goodbye was very painful.
I was not allowed to witness the execution (John’s lawyers were present) so I joined a group of protestors and a church group who prayed for John outside of the prison while the execution took place. Their courage and commitment gave me great comfort! A hearse departed the prison around 6:25 p.m. and as it drove away I knew that John’s life behind bars was over.
It all started in 1984 when Sr. Helen Prejean SSJ, author of Dead Man Walking, encouraged me to correspond with a prisoner on death row. She assured me that writing an inmate letters would be easy and appreciated. A pen pal on death row! What could I possibly have in common with a death row inmate?
I found John’s name in a Christian magazine without any idea of who he was or why he was at Florida State Prison. I only knew that he was on death row and would like to have some pen pals. Pen pals! That was an easy concept for me dating back to my high school days and an encouraging French teacher. I sought to improve my French but also expanded my vision of the world, much like the impact my new pen pal would have on me all of these years later. I sent John an initial letter and a few months later he responded. I didn’t know then that little by little, one letter at a time, I would come to know the world of death row in Florida. John spoke about life on death row in simple terms. He complained about the food and the terrible heat in the summer. He was
upset about the lack of visits from his family. I sensed that he faced mistrust, loneliness and abandonment along with physical and psychological suffering day after day, year after year. He also told me that my letters brought him a little hope that someone cared for him.
A couple of years after my first letter, John invited me to visit him and on one beautiful Sunday morning, I found myself at the main gate of Florida State Prison. Meeting a convicted criminal face to face scared me and I believed I was going to meet a monster capable of harming me and possibly killing me. My legs shook as I passed through the first gate, and the second gate, and the third gate, and the security check point and the four additional gates. Finally, I entered the Visiting Park where I was directed to sit at a particular table and wait. A little while later, a tall African American man joined me.
John. He had a big scar on his left arm. Our visit began awkwardly although he seemed friendly. We talked about the Bible and about our families and we
had lunch together. I left the prison with just one recurring thought: “He is a human being!” John let me know, in that first four-hour visit, that, like many other people, he had known friendship, betrayal, hopes and disappointments. A few months ago, he thanked me for having the courage to visit him that first time.
Our relationship was tense and at times difficult during the first 20 years. John held a lot of anger in his heart and did not trust me. I had to learn to accept him where he was. I continued writing to him and visiting him about once a year. About 10 years ago I learned about the terrible crimes he had committed in his youth and I was horrified by his actions. I asked God to help me to continue corresponding with him. At our next visit, I told him that I knew
why he was on death row and I told him that in spite of his past I was willing to continue supporting him. Moved by my words, John started to trust me and began sharing significant information about his childhood and adolescent years. I was appalled by his story.
Born in poverty, John knew hunger. He grew angry when he watched his classmates eat their lunches when he had nothing. He could not concentrate and failed in school. He began stealing candy from grocery stores around age 11. Eventually, he dropped out of school and his life on the streets of Miami
began, quickly landing him in a juvenile detention center. After his release, John applied for the army but was turned down because of his record and so returned to life on the streets. He was shot four times by a policeman as he left a Burger King unarmed in his early twenties. Severely wounded, he stayed a month in the hospital, fighting for his life. John found himself spending more and more time in prison mental hospitals during the years that followed. Eventually, his crimes grew more serious. He ended up on death row. One of John’s pen pals has summarized his life as follows: “John grew up behind the bars of poverty and then spent his adult years behind the bars of prison.”
I ask myself: What if John’s circumstances would have been different? What if his basic needs for food, clothing and shelter were met in childhood? What if he would have succeeded in school? What if he had found positive role models during his adolescent years? What if he would have been allowed to join the army and do something good for his country? What if he would have never been shot and severely wounded on the streets of Miami? What if he would have been given a life sentence instead of a death sentence?
I witnessed John change through the years from a very angry man into a very quiet man. Within his death row cell, John read the Bible and grew strong in his faith. John also came to appreciate those who showed him kindness and wrote to him. The 35 years John spent on death row gave him the chance to mature, to discover true friendship, to forgive, and to let go of a lot of his anger. I am very sorry that his life was cut short on August 5. I will never know what kind of a man he could have become if he had been allowed to grow older, even behind bars.
I would like to tell those who supported John’s execution that he received 35 years of terrible punishment on death row. One inmate labeled Florida’s death row as “Hotel Hell” and John agreed. Fortunately, John experienced a little kindness through his pen pals. Only a few of us wrote to him and even fewer visited him every once in a while, but we offered him our support and our friendship and he was grateful. One of his pen pals arranged for John’s burial in New England. Although she preceded him in death, her gift allowed John to be buried with dignity and in a state where capital punishment was
abolished many years ago. Another of his pen pals and I recently visited his grave. We prayed together for his eternal rest and for John’s victims. We felt peace knowing that we had accompanied a human being along a very long and painful journey that ended with a lethal injection.
My heart now goes to the 400 death row inmates in Florida. Will they know a little kindness before their time is up? How long will it be before the death penalty is abolished in Florida and elsewhere? My heart also goes out to the children that are presently growing up behind the bars of poverty. Will someone give them a helping hand so that they don’t drift away to life in the streets and, eventually, life behind bars? My experience with John has taught me that caring for our children and youth at risk can be a greater deterrent to crime than capital punishment. I long for the day when all our children are loved and cared for and our prisons have become empty.
The Human Element to the Death Penalty
Past Case Dossier - Released!!
Update...Gao Zhisheng was released from jail on August 7, 2014, and he is now kept under house arrest. Having been fed with a slice of bread and a piece of cabbage daily, he was released in bad health, but medical access has been denied for him.
Gao Zhisheng is considered one of China’s most respected human rights lawyers. Because of his work, he has been subject to enforced disappearance, torture, illegal house arrest and detention. Gao is was imprisoned in Shaya county prison located in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region in northwest China. He had been held there since his arrest in December 2011 for allegedly violating the conditions of his three year suspension sentence. Before his arrest, Gao’s whereabouts had been unknown, even to his friends and family, for almost 20 months. He has been repeatedly tortured since 2006.
Update...Gao Zhisheng was released from jail on August 7, 2014, and he is now kept under house arrest. Having been fed with a slice of bread and a piece of cabbage daily, he was released in bad health, but medical access has been denied for him.
Gao Zhisheng is considered one of China’s most respected human rights lawyers. Because of his work, he has been subject to enforced disappearance, torture, illegal house arrest and detention. Gao is was imprisoned in Shaya county prison located in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region in northwest China. He had been held there since his arrest in December 2011 for allegedly violating the conditions of his three year suspension sentence. Before his arrest, Gao’s whereabouts had been unknown, even to his friends and family, for almost 20 months. He has been repeatedly tortured since 2006.
