UN Rights Experts Urge U.S. To Stop Death Row ‘Experiment’

Some top UN-appointed independent human rights experts have called on the U.S. to stop the imminent execution of a man on death row using the untested method of inhaling pure nitrogen.

Kenneth Eugene Smith was convicted of murder in 1988 and sentenced to death. He is scheduled to be executed on Jan. 25 in Alabama.

Authorities failed in their attempt to execute Smith in November 2022 by lethal injection.

UN Special Rapporteur Morris Tidball-Binz and other top rights experts appointed by the Human Rights Council, in  a statement on Wednesday, expressed concern that the first attempt at nitrogen asphyxiation “would result in a painful and humiliating death.”

The experts added that punishments which could cause unnecessary severe pain or suffering would “likely violate the Convention against Torture”.

The U.S. is a party to the convention.

Smith was convicted of murder-for-hire in 1988 and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole, by a near unanimous jury vote of 11-1.

However, the sentencing judge overrode the jury’s recommendation and sentenced him to death.

Smith, who has been on death row for over three decades is scheduled to be executed on Jan. 25.

The recently-approved ‘Executions’ Protocol’ of the State of Alabama, allows for the use of nitrogen gas asphyxiation.

“We are concerned that nitrogen hypoxia would result in a painful and humiliating death,” the experts said.

They warned that experimental executions by gas asphyxiation – such as nitrogen hypoxia – will likely violate the prohibition on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment convention.

They expressed regret about the continuation of executions in the U.S., which contradicted global trends toward the abolition of death penalty.

Botched executions, lack of transparency of execution protocols and use of untested drugs to execute prisoners in the U.S. have drawn the attention of the UN mechanisms.

The experts said that punishments that caused severe pains or suffering beyond harms inherent in lawful sanctions, likely violated the Convention against Torture.

They appealed to federal and state authorities in the U.S. and the State of Alabama to halt execution of Smith and any others scheduled to be executed in this manner, pending review of the execution protocol. (NAN)