Kenneth Eugene Smith, a 58-year-old man convicted of homicide, is set for execution this week in Alabama, USA, using the untested method of nitrogen gas inhalation. Smith has spent three decades on death row since being found guilty in 1989 of murdering a pastor’s wife.
Scheduled for Thursday at Holman Prison in Atmore, Alabama, the execution by nitrogen hypoxia marks the first use of this method in the United States. In 2023, all 24 executions in the country employed lethal injection.
Smith’s previous execution attempt in 2022 failed when officials struggled to administer the lethal injection successfully. The last gas execution in the US occurred in 1999, using hydrogen cyanide gas.
Alabama, among the three states approving nitrogen hypoxia, administers the gas through a mask to deprive the body of oxygen. Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office in Geneva, urged Alabama to abandon the “nascent and untested” method, warning it might “constitute torture” under international law.
“The death penalty is incompatible with the fundamental right to life,” stated Shamdasani, aligning with the UN’s principled stance. Alabama defended its decision in court, claiming it’s “perhaps the most humane method of execution ever devised.”
Smith appealed to the US Supreme Court to halt the execution, but the court denied the request on Wednesday without comment. A recent Gallup poll revealed that 53% of Americans support the death penalty for those convicted of murder, the lowest level since 1972.
The death penalty has been abolished in 23 US states, with governors in six states (Arizona, California, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee) suspending its use.