A hit man in Alabama will be executed in a new method next Thursday. The plan is to administer nitrogen to the man through a face mask, causing death from lack of oxygen. Human rights experts say it is comparable to torture (see video above).
Death can be cruel. The United Nations and NGO Amnesty International said there is no scientific evidence that breathing pure nitrogen does not cause serious suffering.
The method has so far been applied to animals. Such a death sentence has never been carried out against people in the US, and the UN Human Rights Office is not aware of any cases in other countries. This Thursday, January 25, Kenneth Eugene Smith will die in the American state of Alabama from so-called nitrogen hypoxia. The hitman was sentenced to death in 1988.
Executions by lethal injection failed
Smith’s lawyers have so far raised objections to no avail. They turned to the Supreme Court, arguing for the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits “cruel and unusual punishment.” The killer should have been executed by lethal injection in 2022. However, staff were unable to place the necessary cannula in his arm. The 58-year-old was returned to his cell after several hours, where he lay strapped to an execution table.
The same year, two more executions by lethal injection failed in Alabama. According to the lawyers, there are too many unanswered questions to execute the convict at this time. It is still unclear whether the country’s highest authority will hear the case.
Source: Krone
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