First execution with nitrogen gas has already taken place in the United States: the death penalty was applied with a never-before-tested method
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The state of Alabama, in the south of the United States, executed inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith with nitrogen gas on Thursday, a method used for the first time in the country and the target of international criticism.
Smith, sentenced to death for murdering a woman on contract in 1988, was declared dead at 8:25 pm (2:25 am in Lisbon) after inhaling nitrogen gas through a mask and running out of oxygen.
The inmate, who was strapped to a gurney with the mask placed over his head, appeared conscious for several minutes after nitrogen gas began flowing into the mask, depriving him of oxygen, according to five Alabama journalists who witnessed the execution. . He then “shaked and writhed” for at least two minutes before beginning to breathe heavily for several minutes. Finally, the breathing slowed down until it was no longer visible, says “The New York Times”.
The United States Supreme Court authorized the execution with nitrogen gas on Wednesday, amid international criticism that US authorities intervened in time.
MICAH GREEN
Kenneth Eugene Smith, 58, fought a legal battle to stop the execution using this never-before-tested method, claiming he was being treated like a guinea pig. However, the Supreme Court refused to uphold Smith’s arguments.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ravina Shamdasani, stated that she was “seriously concerned” about the use of this new method and called on the state of Alabama to suspend the execution and refrain “from carrying out any more executions of this type”.
The non-governmental human rights organization Amnesty International warned that “this new, untested method could be extremely painful” for the prisoner, “in violation of international human rights treaties that the United States has ratified.”
The state of Alabama, which has been working for years on a protocol to apply the death penalty using this new nitrogen asphyxiation technique, argued in court that it is the “most painless and humane method of execution known.”
MICAH GREEN
Convicts are fitted with a mask that replaces oxygen with nitrogen gas, which, in theory, will cause death within a few minutes. But this argument did not convince Smith’s defense, who, after a federal judge gave the green light to the execution last week, filed appeals.
Alabama officials said the process had proven to be effective and humane. “Tonight marked the first time in the nation – and the world – that nitrogen hypoxia was used as a method of execution. Our proven method is a model for other states and a warning to those who would shed innocent blood,” Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said in a statement, adding that predictions of possible problems had turned out to be “speculative,” according to “The New York Times”. Nitrogen hypoxia has been used in some assisted suicides in Europe and elsewhere, although the exact method used by Alabama differs from common practice.
Alabama is the first state to develop an alternative to lethal injections – the most common method in recent decades – given the difficulty in acquiring the drugs in recent years, due to pharmaceutical companies’ refusal to use them for this purpose.
Alabama attempted to execute Smith in November 2022, but was unable to insert the intravenous injections. Under a subsequent plea agreement, Alabama pledged never again to attempt to kill Smith by lethal injection.
The defense argued that Smith’s right not to be subjected to cruel punishment, enshrined in the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution, was violated.
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