U.N. Warns Alabama's First Nitrogen-Gas Execution May Constitute Torture

The United Nations has urged Alabama to halt the planned execution of death row inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith using nitrogen gas, citing concerns that the untested method could amount to torture and violate human rights treaties. Smith, who survived a botched lethal injection in 2022, is scheduled to be the first person in the U.S. to be executed by nitrogen gas on Jan. 25. The U.N. human rights commissioner expressed serious concerns that the execution could breach international human rights treaties, while Smith's attorneys sought an injunction to stop the execution, accusing Alabama of using him as a "test subject" for an experimental method.