MONTGOMERY, Alabama – The state of Alabama made history on Thursday by conducting the nation’s first execution using nitrogen gas, a method that the UN has condemned as “torture.” Kenneth Eugene Smith, convicted of a 1988 murder and sentenced to death in 1996, was pronounced dead at 8:25 p.m. local time, using the controversial method.

Alabama’s decision to use nitrogen gas for execution has sparked criticism and concerns, with the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center calling it an “untested, unproven method.” This method has never been used to execute anyone in the United States or anywhere else in the world, raising questions about its potential consequences.

Smith’s experience with the execution process has been turbulent, as he recently survived a botched lethal injection attempt in November 2022. His fear and trauma from the failed attempt were evident in an interview with National Public Radio, where he described himself as “absolutely terrified.”

The last time gas was used for an execution in the US was in 1999, using hydrogen cyanide gas. However, in 2023, all 24 executions in the United States were carried out via lethal injection.

Despite the controversial nature of the decision, Alabama is one of three US states, along with Oklahoma and Mississippi, that have approved the use of nitrogen gas for execution.

The United Nations has criticized Alabama’s plan to use nitrogen gas, with a spokeswoman for the UN rights office in Geneva warning that it could amount to “torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, under international human rights law.”

As Alabama defends this method of execution as “perhaps the most humane method of execution ever devised,” Smith’s case has drawn attention not only for its use of a controversial method but also for the heinous nature of the crime for which he was convicted.

While the debate over the use of nitrogen gas for executions continues, public opinion on capital punishment in the US has shifted, with a recent Gallup Poll showing that the support for the death penalty has reached its lowest level since 1972.

Overall, Alabama’s groundbreaking use of nitrogen gas for an execution has ignited passionate discussions surrounding the ethics and methods of capital punishment, prompting further reflection on the future of the death penalty in the US.