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Alabama execution using nitrogen gas could “amount to torture” and violate human rights treaties, U.N. warns
The top human rights official at the United Nations is calling on Alabama authorities to stop the planned execution of a death row inmate by nitrogen hypoxia next week, reiterating concerns from experts about whether the untested method constitutes torture under international treaties. The inmate, Kenneth Eugene Smith, already survived a botched execution attempt by lethal injection in 2022.
“We are alarmed by the imminent execution in the United States of America of Kenneth Eugene Smith, through the use of a novel and untested method – suffocation by nitrogen gas, which could amount to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment under international human rights law,” said Ravina Shamdasani, the spokesperson for Volker Türk, who is the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, in a statement issued Tuesday.
In an earlier statement released several weeks ago by the U.N. human rights office, a group of international consultants noted that there is “no scientific evidence to prove” that execution by nitrogen inhalation will not cause “grave suffering,” and said they were “concerned that nitrogen hypoxia would result in a painful and humiliating death.”
The U.N. human rights commissioner on Tuesday said the office now has “serious concerns” that Smith’s planned execution could breach two international human rights treaties that the U.S. has agreed to abide by — the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
The first treaty, adopted by the U.N. in 1966 and put into effect 10 years later, requires involved nations to respect the civil and political rights of its people, including their right to life, due process and fair trials. Congress ratified the pact in 1992 with several reservations, and those changes have called into question the treaty’s effectiveness in the U.S. as implemented in the U.S. The U.S. signed onto the second treaty against torture around the same time, although the agreement in that instance included a clause that rejected the treaty’s application to capital punishment, as long as the death penalty is carried out in a way that aligns with the Constitution.
Kenneth Eugene Smith would be the first person in the U.S. put to death using nitrogen gas if the execution proceeds as scheduled on Jan. 25. Smith has been imprisoned in Alabama for decades, since being convicted as a hitman in the 1998 killing of a preacher’s wife, and already survived a failed execution attempt by lethal injection in November 2022. His was one of four botched lethal injections in Alabama in the last four years — which twice led ultimately to the deaths of the condemned inmates after prolonged periods — and the state as a result has faced scrutiny and legal challenges questioning its ability to carry out the death penalty at all.
Alabama Department of Corrections
In the wake of a national shortage of lethal injections, Alabama authorized nitrogen hypoxia as an execution method in 2018. It is one of three U.S. states that technically allows this, along with Oklahoma and Mississippi, but the method has never actually been used before. The method forces a condemned inmate to breathe pure nitrogen, or extremely concentrated levels of nitrogen, through a gas mask until they asphyxiate.
Because it has never been tested, and even veterinarians have refused to use it when euthanizing animals, many oppose its implementation in capital punishment settings and warn that nitrogen hypoxia may potentially cause unnecessary pain and suffering. That same argument has been used against nitrogen hypoxia as a means for euthanasia, along with the fact that setting off a stream of nitrogen gas may pose health threats to other people in its vicinity.
Alabama released its first protocol for execution by nitrogen hypoxia in August, and while it outlined some safety measures, the heavily redacted documents also acknowledge the risks of handling nitrogen gas. As the U.N. human rights commissioner noted in Tuesday’s statement, “Alabama’s protocol for execution by nitrogen asphyxiation makes no provision for sedation of human beings prior to execution,” which departs from the American Veterinary Medical Association’s recommendation to sedate animals before they are euthanized in this way.
“The protocol also refers to the odourless and colourless gas being administered for up to 15 minutes,” the statement said. “Smith has also advanced, with expert evidence, that such an execution by gas asphyxiation in his case risks particular pain and suffering.”
A federal judge on Wednesday ruled that Alabama could go ahead with plans to put Smith to death using nitrogen gas. Smith’s attorneys had sought an injunction to stop the Jan. 25 execution and accused the state of Alabama of trying to use him as a “test subject” for an experimental method. Smith’s lawyer said he intended to appeal the decision, according to the Associated Press.
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Rep. Mike Turner says all “candidates need to deescalate” after Trump assassination attempts
Rep. Mike Turner, an Ohio Republican who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, responded Sunday to Eric Trump’s implication that his father’s Democratic opponents were responsible for the attempts on former President Trump’s life, saying the innuendo was “of course” inaccurate but political candidates on both sides of the aisle “need to deescalate” their rhetoric.
“No, of course not,” Turner said in his latest appearance on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” after being asked whether he believes there was truth to claims made by the former president, his son Eric, and his vice presidential running mate, Sen. JD Vance, at a rally where each either implied or suggested Democrats tried to kill him.
Trump returned Saturday to Butler, Pennsylvania, to speak to supporters gathered at the Butler Farm Show fairgrounds, the site of the July 13 assassination attempt against him. A gunman facing Trump on the podium at that rally opened fire into the crowd, grazing Trump’s ear, killing one attendee and injuring two others, according to authorities. The gunman was killed by a Secret Service sniper, officials said.
Another apparent assassination attempt happened in September when a suspect pointed a gun in Trump’s direction on the Florida course where he was playing golf. The FBI has opened probes into both incidents.
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Trump, his son and Vance all acknowledged the assassination attempt in Butler at Saturday’s campaign event.
“Over the past eight years, those who want to stop us from achieving this future have slandered me impeached me indicted me tried to throw me off the ballot and, who knows, maybe even tried to kill me,” said the former president, while Eric Trump claimed his father’s political opponents “tried to kill him, and it’s because the Democratic party, they can’t do anything right.”
Vance, in his remarks, addressed Trump’s Democratic challenger in the presidential race, Vice President Kamala Harris, and suggested that the Republican nominee “took a bullet for democracy.”
Brennan asked Turner: “You don’t mean to imply here anything that would suggest Eric Trump’s allegations that Democrats are trying to kill him?”
“No, of course not,” Turner responded. “But I do think that Vice President Harris needs to actively state and acknowledge that her administration is saying a foreign power, which would be an act of war, is actively trying to kill her opponent.”
The attempts on Trump’s life came after a citizen of Pakistan with ties to Iran was arrested and charged with allegedly planning a murder-for-hire scheme targeting Trump, among others. Although the timing of the charges coincided with the first attempt, there was no indication that the two incidents were related.
Turner criticized Harris for what he viewed as a failure to openly condemn the alleged plot.
“I think there’s certainly a role for her to play and for the president to play in this, in both identifying that there are threats against Donald Trump that need to be acknowledged and responded to, to deter,” he said. “I think all the candidates need to de-escalate, certainly in their language.”
But the congressman did acknowledge that a Biden-Harris Justice Department official, Matthew Olsen, the head of the national security division, said the U.S. government has been “intensely tracking Iranian lethal plotting efforts targeting former and current U.S. government officials — and that includes the former president.”
“I would say that we are very concerned — gravely concerned — about Iranian plotting,” Olsen told CBS News in a recent interview.
Hurricane Milton rapidly intensified into a Category 1 storm on Sunday, and it has set its path on Florida’s Gulf Coast.
Forecasters predict Milton will make landfall around the Tampa Bay area on Wednesday, bringing with it upwards of 120 mph winds and drenching an area still reeling from Hurricane Helene.
As of 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, Milton was centered about 290 miles west-northwest of Progreso, Mexico, and about 815 miles west-southwest of Tampa. It had maximum sustained winds of nearly 80 mph and was inching north-northeast at 6 mph.
Path of Hurricane Milton
A map from the National Hurricane Center shows Milton continuing to strengthen into a major hurricane as it approaches Florida’s western coast.
“Milton is forecast to rapidly intensify during the next couple of days and become a major hurricane on Monday,” forecasters said.
NOAA/National Hurricane Center
The storm is expected to remain north of Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, with heavy rainfall expected as Milton makes its way northeast toward Florida. Tropical storm watches are currently in effect from Celestun to Cancún, Mexico.
NOAA/National Hurricane Center
The hurricane center said hurricane and storm surge watches could be issued for parts of Florida later Sunday.
Florida officials prepare for more impact
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Sunday that while it remains to be seen just where Milton will strike, it’s clear that Florida is going to be hit hard. “I don’t think there’s any scenario where we don’t have major impacts at this point,” he said.
“You have time to prepare — all day today, all day Monday, probably all day Tuesday to be sure your hurricane preparedness plan is in place,” the governor said. “If you’re on that west coast of Florida, barrier islands, just assume you’ll be asked to leave.”
NOAA via AP
DeSantis expanded his state of emergency declaration Sunday to 51 counties and said Floridians should prepare for more power outages and disruptions, making sure they have a week’s worth of food and water and are ready to hit the road.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, meanwhile, coordinated with the governor and briefed President Biden Sunday on how it has staged lifesaving resources.
“I highly encourage you to evacuate” if you’re in an evacuation zone, said Kevin Guthrie, executive director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management. “We are preparing … for the largest evacuation that we have seen, most likely since 2017, Hurricane Irma. “
As many as 4,000 National Guard troops are helping state crews to remove debris, DeSantis said.
“All available state assets … are being marshaled to help remove debris,” DeSantis said. “We’re going 24-7 … it’s all hands on deck.”
An American climber was rescued after she and another alpinist from the U.K. were stranded for two days at more than 20,000 feet in the Himalayan mountains.
Michelle Dvorak, 31, and Fay Manners, 37, went missing on Thursday after their equipment and food tumbled down a ravine while trekking up India’s Chaukhamba mountain, CBS News partner BBC reported.
The pair sent an emergency message but search and rescue teams were unable to find them.
INDIAN AIR FORCE/Handout via REUTERS
Manners told the BBC they were “terrified” as they tried to make part of the descent down the treacherous mountains without supplies.
“I watched the bag tumble down the mountain and I immediately knew the consequence of what was to come,” she said. “We had none of our safety equipment left. No tent. No stove to melt snow for water. No warm clothes for the evening.”
The terrifying ordeal intensified when it started to snow. They took cover on a ledge while waiting for rescuers.
“I felt hypothermic, constantly shaking and with the lack of food my body was running out of energy to keep warm,” Manners said.
The rescue was made difficult because of the conditions, including bad weather, fog and high altitude.
“The helicopter flew passed again, couldn’t see us. We were destroyed,” Manners told the BBC.
INDIAN AIR FORCE/Handout via REUTERS
On the second day, the pair began to cautiously abseil down the mountain. They spotted a team of French climbers coming toward them. Manners said they shared their equipment and food and contacted the helicopter company with an exact location.
“I cried with relief knowing we might survive,” she said.
The Indian Air Force said in a post on the X social media platform that their helicopter airlifted the climbers from 17,400 feet after “battling two days of bad weather.”
Chaukhamba is a mountain massif in the Garhwal Himalaya in northern India.
