UN experts criticize execution with nitrogen
A murderer is to be executed in three weeks. The US state of Alabama wants to use a new method to carry out the death penalty. Independent experts from the United Nations call it an experiment.
UN human rights experts have expressed concern about an execution planned in the USA using nitrogen for the first time. "We fear that nitrogen hypoxia will lead to a painful and humiliating death," said the four independent UN experts in Geneva. They are also of the opinion that "experimental executions by asphyxiation with gas would probably violate the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading punishments".
In execution by hypoxia, death is caused by a lack of oxygen. This will be "the first attempt" to use such a method of execution, explained the four experts on torture and arbitrary executions commissioned by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
According to them, the US state of Alabama plans to carry out the death sentence against Kenneth Smith in this way on January 25. The plan is for him to inhale pure nitrogen through a mask, according to US media reports. His execution by lethal injection was supposed to have been carried out in November 2022, but was canceled at the last minute. Smith was sentenced to death for the contract killing of Elizabeth Sennett in 1988. Her husband is said to have ordered the murder.
The UN experts expressed concern about the "severe suffering that the execution could cause through inhalation of nitrogen". There is "no scientific evidence" to the contrary. They called on the US authorities to suspend the execution of Smith and every other person sentenced to death until the procedure has been reviewed.
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The international community, including the United Nations, has voiced their concerns about the planned execution of Kenneth Smith in the USA, as it would be the first use of nitrogen for execution and could potentially infringe upon human rights prohibitions against torture. The US state of Alabama, however, remains determined to proceed with the execution on January 25, sparking international debate.
Source: www.ntv.de
