a death row inmate was executed by nitrogen inhalation, a world first denounced by the UN

“Tonight, Alabama took humanity a step backwards,” Kenneth Eugene Smith said before his execution.

A world first compared to a form of “torture” by the UN. The American state of Alabama executed an inmate sentenced to death by nitrogen inhalation on Thursday, January 25. Kenneth Eugene Smith, sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of a woman ordered by her husband, died at Atmore penitentiary at 8:25 p.m. (local time), 29 minutes after the start of the execution, announced a statement from the Alabama Attorney General.

“Justice has been served. Tonight, Kenneth Smith was put to death for the despicable act he committed 35 years ago.”said Steve Marshall, asserting that Alabama had “accomplished something historic”. According to the local CBS network, a reporter who attended the execution, Kenneth Eugene Smith’s last words were: “Tonight, Alabama took humanity a step backwards. (…) I leave with love, peace and light. (…) Thank you for supporting me. I love everyone.”

The condemned seems to have “held his breath as long as he could”, Alabama Corrections Commissioner John Hamm told reporters. This is the first execution of the year in the United States, where 24 death sentences were carried out in 2023, all by lethal injection. This is the first time in more than 40 years that a new method of execution has been used in this country.

UN outrage

Alabama, located in the southeast of the United States, is one of three American states authorizing execution by nitrogen inhalation, in which death is caused by hypoxia (depletion of oxygen). In mid-January, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said it “alarm” through the use of a “unprecedented and untested mode of execution”.

That “could constitute torture or other cruel or degrading treatment under international law”, warned a spokesperson for the UN body, calling for a stay of this execution. Alabama’s nitrogen hypoxia execution protocol does not include sedation, although the American Veterinary Association (AVMA) recommends sedating animals euthanized this way, she noted. .

White House calls execution ‘disturbing’

The American executive reacted Friday to this execution of a convict by nitrogen inhalation. The White House finds this “deeply disturbing (…) The use of nitrogen, we find it disturbing”, declared his spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre, who adds that the death penalty is a subject of concern for American President Joe Biden.

All appeals and requests for a reprieve from the 58-year-old convict were rejected, including on Wednesday by the Supreme Court of the United States. The highest court in the country, with a conservative majority, was in fact seized of a final appeal by the convicted person, but did not follow up on it.