"UN Experts Decry Alabama's Upcoming Nitrogen Gas Execution as Potential 'Torture'"
United Nations experts have urged the United States to refrain from executing inmate Kenneth Smith by nitrogen hypoxia, a method they fear could cause "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or even torture." Smith, who was involved in a murder-for-hire in 1988, survived a botched lethal injection in November 2022. His upcoming execution in Alabama would be the first use of nitrogen hypoxia, raising concerns about its constitutionality and the potential for "painful and humiliating death."