Overview

• Kenneth Eugene Smith, a death row inmate in Alabama, is scheduled to be executed by nitrogen hypoxia, a controversial and untested method that forces death by oxygen deprivation.
• Smith survived a botched lethal injection in 2022, leading Alabama to opt for nitrogen hypoxia, a method only authorized in three states: Alabama, Mississippi, and Oklahoma.
• Smith's lawyers argue that the use of nitrogen hypoxia is inhumane and akin to human experimentation, with potential for significant error and prolonged suffering.
• Alabama's Attorney General's office defends the method, calling it 'the most painless and humane method of execution known to man.'
• The United Nations has expressed concern over the method, arguing it could cause pain and suffering, potentially breaching the prohibition on torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.