Alabama is all set to carry out the first-ever execution in the United States using nitrogen gas. 58-year-old Kenneth Eugene Smith will be the first death row inmate to get executed by nitrogen gas method. Notably, he has lost his last-minute appeals in lower appeal courts and the US Supreme Court after both declined to interfere in the matter.
In 1988, Smith was convicted of killing Elizabeth Sennett. He was hired to kill Senette for USD 1,000. Sennett was brutally beaten and stabbed to death in a staged home invasion and burglary. Investigation revealed that her husband had orchestrated the plan to kill her. The accused, who was a debt-ridden preacher, killed himself later.
Two years ago, Alabama tried to execute Smith using lethal injection. However, the state’s death warrant expired before a vein could be arranged. Now, the state has to execute Smith within 30 hours starting from 25th January at 6 AM GMT using nitrogen gas, a method his lawyers deemed as cruel and unusual.
The use of nitrogen-induced hypoxia has been approved in three states of the US, including Alabama, as an alternative method of execution using lethal injection, as the drugs used in such methods are not easy to obtain. However, critics of nitrogen execution argue that such a method may lead to unnecessary suffering and pose risks, including leakage, that may cause health hazards to those present in the execution room.
Furthermore, medical professionals suggest that in case of a potential mishap, Smith may end up surviving and may remain in a vegetative state for the rest of his life. Smith’s lawyers argued during an appeal against execution by Nitrogen that it violates the Eighth Amendment of the US Constitution, prohibiting “cruel and unusual” punishment.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights also voiced concerns over using nitrogen for execution. On 16th January, UNCHR’s spokesperson issued a press release against the method. The press release read, “We are alarmed by the imminent execution in the United States of America of Kenneth Eugene Smith through the use of a novel and untested method – suffocation by nitrogen gas, which could amount to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment under international human rights law.”
Earlier, UNHCR experts issued a press release raising alarm over the method and raised concerns over the possibility of grave suffering that the process may cause. The press release reads, “The experts noted that punishments that cause severe pain or suffering, beyond harms inherent in lawful sanctions, likely violate the Convention against Torture to which the United States is a party and the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment that guarantees that no detainee shall be subjected to medical or scientific experimentation which may be detrimental to his health.”
For those who are unaware, if a person inhales nitrogen without oxygen, it leads to cell breakdown and, ultimately, death. Contrary to the critics, the state contended that the person facing execution by nitrogen would lose consciousness within seconds due to lack of oxygen and die in a matter of minutes.
