"UN Experts Decry Alabama's First Nitrogen Gas Execution as Potential 'Torture'"

U.N. human rights experts have warned that the first U.S. execution by nitrogen hypoxia, scheduled in Alabama for death row inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith, could result in a "painful and humiliating death." This method, which involves forcing the inmate to breathe pure nitrogen, is untested and criticized for its potential to cause severe suffering and health risks to others present. The execution method has been challenged on human rights grounds and for potentially violating religious liberties, as it may endanger spiritual advisers in the death chamber.