"From Death Row to Freedom: Witness to Innocence"
Exonerated Death Row Prisoners tell their Stories

Is there anything more horrific than the execution of a human being for a crime he or she did not commit? In a nation that considers itself the standard bearer of human rights, such an outrageous “mistake” is shameful and unacceptable.  But we also must recognize the unconscionable human rights abuses that have been committed against more than 100 wrongfully convicted men and women in America who have looked death in the face and lived to tell about it.

Three of these courageous individuals will bring their dramatic stories from the United States to Europe this fall, providing a unique and powerful witness against the death penalty.  William Nieves, Ray Krone and Nick Yarris will carry a compelling message on an unprecedented tour, “From Death Row to Freedom: Witness to Innocence.”   They will bring a human face to capital punishment in an effort to increase international awareness and outrage about the death penalty in the United States and to draw attention to the enormous challenges facing exonerated death row prisoners after their release.  

William, Ray and Nick will share their moving testimony as they recount the years they sat in prison waiting to be killed by their government.  They will illuminate the unfairness and immorality of the death penalty in a way that only an innocent person sentenced to death can do.  Having spent a combined total of nearly 40 years in prison for crimes they didn’t commit, they will present perhaps the most convincing evidence we have that America’s death penalty system is broken beyond repair and must be brought to an immediate halt.

William Nieves, a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, spent six years of his life on death row.  Since his release in October 2000, he has traveled across the country and around the world, sharing the story of his ordeal and calling for the abolition of the death penalty.  He is currently on the board of directors of Pennsylvania Abolitionists United Against the Death Penalty.

Ray Krone grew up in York, Pennsylvania, with a loving family and many friends.  He became an Air Force sergeant and later, a postal delivery person before finding himself on Arizona’s death row for a murder he did not commit.  In April 2002, after spending 10 years in prison, he became the nation’s 100th death row prisoner to be exonerated and released since capital punishment was reinstated in the United States in 1976.

Nick Yarris, another Philadelphian, spent half of his life on death row for a crime he did not commit.  At the age of 21, he was convicted in one of the shortest murder trials in Pennsylvania history.  Yarris was the first death row prisoner in the United States to request DNA testing to prove his innocence, and after a 15-year legal struggle and nearly 22 years on death row he was exonerated in 2003.  On January 16, 2004, he was released, becoming the 112th prisoner to be freed from death row.

Footnotes:
1. We are still looking for places to speak in the UK during our tour.  We still have nothing scheduled for Thursday evening, 14th October (we arrive that day), nor do we have anything else scheduled for the weekend, as I have mentioned.  If you have ideas or know of other groups or individuals who might be interested in hosting a speaking event during our time there, please let me know.
 
2. We are hoping to hold a demonstration at the Pennsylvania Foreign Investment office in London on either Monday or Tuesday morning, 18 or 19 October.  The demonstration will be to protest Pennsylvania's use of the death penalty (we have the fourth largest death row in the United States, and there is severe racial and economic discrimination in death sentencing).  We are attempting to initiate a campaign to put pressure on foreign companies investing in Pennsylvania and to discourage them from doing business with our state because of its human rights record.  The demonstration will an initial attempt to raise consciousness and generate attention for this campaign.  If you know of any individuals or groups that would like to help us spread the word about the demonstration and could pass those along to me.  We are hoping there may be people attending the ESF and related events who will hear about it and want to come join this protest.  The exonerated death row prisoners will be speaking there.

Contact: Kurt Rosenberg, Field Organizer
Pennsylvania Abolitionists United Against the Death Penalty
P.O. Box 58128, Philadelphia, PA 19102
Tel. 215-729-8720 • Fax. 215-729-6189
www.pa-abolitionists.org • KurtR63@aol.com