The office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said it was “alarmed” by the imminent execution of a person sentenced to death in the United States and that the method used could constitute torture.
It is a system of execution by inhalation of nitrogen that causes death from hypoxia (lack of oxygen).
“We are alarmed by the imminent execution in the United States of Kenneth Eugene Smith, with a new and untested method, nitrogen hypoxia,” Ravina Shamdasani, the High Commissioner’s spokeswoman, said at a news conference in Geneva.
The execution “could constitute torture or other cruel or degrading treatment under international law,” he added.
According to the spokesperson, the Alabama nitrogen hypoxia execution protocol does not provide for sedation, while the United States Veterinary Association (AVMA) does recommend administering a sedative to animals, even large ones, when they are euthanized with this method.
The UN has asked Alabama state authorities to suspend Smith’s execution, scheduled for January 25, and is concerned because Mississippi and Oklahoma have also approved this method of execution.
Smith’s execution by lethal injection in November 2022 for a 1988 contract murder was canceled at the last minute because the intravenous drips used to inject the lethal solution could not be delivered within the legally scheduled time.
Source: Ambito
