Use of nitrogen in US execution may constitute torture, warns human rights agency

The UN human rights office has called on authorities in the US state of Alabama to halt the planned execution of a man by nitrogen hypoxia saying the “novel and untested method” could amount to torture under international human rights law.1Kenneth Eugene Smith, aged 57, was convicted for a murder for hire committed in 1988. He is scheduled to be executed by nitrogen hypoxia on 25 January. He survived a botched attempt to execute him by lethal injection in 2022 after staff failed to establish a proper intravenous line.Nitrogen gas has never been used in the US to execute a human. The method would involve giving the prisoner pure nitrogen through a mask for up to 15 minutes, thus depriving them of oxygen.Smith argued in a hearing on 20 December 2023 that execution by gas asphyxiation risks particular pain and suffering.Alabama’s protocol for execution by nitrogen asphyxiation makes no provision…
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