It is widely acknowledged that executions need to be painless and humane in nations where the death penalty is still in use. Nitrogen gas was used at the Alabama execution. It was the first known instance of the nitrogen hypoxia technique being applied to a judicial execution.
Kenneth Eugene Smith, who had committed a murder 36 years prior, was the man who was put to death. After he survived an attempt to inject himself to death over the course of several hours in 2022, the nitrogen approach was selected. This time, it was certain that he would pass away quietly in two minutes and go unconscious in a matter of seconds.
Source: BBC
However, it was stated that he writhed and trembled for at least two minutes before passing away after 22 minutes. But it was hailed as a “historic breakthrough” by state authorities. Several nations have tried a variety of execution techniques. These include gas chambers, electric chairs, firing squads, fatal injections, hanging from trees, gallows, and scaffolds.
According to what is documented, the goal was to make the victim’s death swift and painless while also ensuring that the execution was efficient and humane for the executioners. They must have worked well in the majority of instances, with the exception of very lengthy ones like Smith’s. Though no one has come back to share the tale, scientific models have demonstrated that they are all excruciating.
Claimed to be humane, injections have really been likened to stake burning and waterboarding. Smith stated he was repeatedly pricked with needles during his bungled execution and put in “an inverted crucifixion position.” The executioners, according to human rights groups, are “looking for ways to pretend that executions are medical and modern, not brutal and violent.”
Source: First Post
No murder can be morally just. When carried out, executions involve physical torture; but, they can also be mentally torturous for years prior to the execution. The concept behind the killing is archaic, even when the technique is described as modern.
India has no pretence of being a progressive, compassionate country; the concept and the process are both antiquated. The majority of nations worldwide have either suspended or abolished the death sentence. The list of crimes in India that carry the death penalty has grown significantly. Regrettably, punishment and retribution—rather than repentance and reformation, as they ought to be—remain the guiding principles of the legal system. Whatever the manner, killing is not human, thus even the most easy and painless execution cannot be considered compassionate. One cannot claim to be humane or civilised in a nation that permits killing.
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