Geneva, The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has expressed grave concerns over the planned execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith in the United States. The execution, scheduled for 25-26 January, is set to use nitrogen gas asphyxiation, a method which the UN body fears could constitute torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.

According to Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani voiced alarm at the novel and untested execution method. The use of nitrogen gas has never been employed for human execution in the United States, and Alabama’s protocol for its use does not include sedation prior to execution. The American Veterinary Medical Association even recommends sedation for large animals euthanized in this manner. The protocol also indicates that the odourless and colourless gas may be administered for up to 15 minutes, and Smith, with expert evidence, has argued that this method risks causing him particular pain and suffering.

The UN Human Rights Office calls for Alabama state authorities to halt Smith’s execution and to avoid any further executions using this method. Alabama had previously attempted unsuccessfully to execute Smith by lethal injection in 2022. Additionally, Smith’s ongoing proceedings in federal court against his execution have not been fully resolved.

The UN body expressed serious concerns that executing Smith under these circumstances could breach international human rights treaties to which the United States is a party, specifically the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

The Human Rights Committee, responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Covenant, has criticized the use of asphyxiation by gas as an execution method, the employment of untested methods, and the expansion of the death penalty in states that continue to apply it. The office also highlighted the death penalty’s inconsistency with the fundamental right to life, its failure to deter crime, and the risk of executing innocent people. They urge all states to implement a moratorium on capital punishment as a step towards its universal abolition.