Iran Press/ America: An Alabama prisoner is scheduled to be executed by nitrogen gas on Tuesday — an experimental form of capital punishment that has prompted a global outcry from human rights organizations.
Kenneth Eugene Smith survived a lethal injection attempt in September 2022, when officials from Alabama's Department of Corrections tried and failed for four hours to find a vein to insert an IV line. A federal judge then ruled that an execution by nitrogen hypoxia can go forward.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has criticized the planned execution, saying it violates international human rights treaties, including the prohibition on "torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment."
Nitrogen hypoxia execution would cause death by forcing the inmate to breathe pure nitrogen, depriving him or her of the oxygen needed to maintain bodily functions. 219
