Citation

Wise J. BMJ 2024; 384: q145.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2024, BMJ Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1136/bmj.q145

PMID

38237940

Abstract

The UN human rights office has called on authorities in the US state of Alabama to halt the planned execution of a man by nitrogen hypoxia saying the "novel and untested method" could amount to torture under international human rights law.1

Kenneth Eugene Smith, aged 57, was convicted for a murder for hire committed in 1988. He is scheduled to be executed by nitrogen hypoxia on 25 January. He survived a botched attempt to execute him by lethal injection in 2022 after staff failed to establish a proper intravenous line.

Nitrogen gas has never been used in the US to execute a human. The method would involve giving the prisoner pure nitrogen through a mask for up …

Language: en