UN says Pentagon plan to livestream execution of Fort Hood shooter would quantity to torture – US politics stay | US information
Livestreaming US execution would quantity to torture, says UN
A choice by US officers to livestream the execution of convicted killer Nidal Hasan would quantity to torture, the UN mentioned.
US defence officers mentioned US Army psychiatrist Hasan, who shot and killed 13 folks at a army base in 2009, would face a firing squad and the execution could be broadcast stay, including that particulars would come later.
“The livestreaming of an execution is tantamount to a public execution and would breach absolutely the prohibition of torture,” the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights mentioned in a message despatched to AFP.
The UN physique mentioned it had made comparable statements about public executions in Afghanistan and Iran, saying they “represent a type of merciless, inhuman or degrading remedy or punishment”.
Key occasions
Hasan set to be the primary service member executed in additional than 60 years
Nidal Hasan’s execution marks the primary time a member of the army will obtain the loss of life penalty in additional than 60 years.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, the final army execution, in 1961, occurred by hanging, which is not utilized by any American jurisdiction, and was imposed for rape, which is not topic to the loss of life penalty, following precedent set by the supreme court docket.
The 3 December scheduled loss of life would even be the primary time in historical past the army has live-streamed an execution, and it will even be the first time since 1945 {that a} member of the army has been executed by firing squad, per the Death Penalty Information Center.
While there was bipartisan backlash to Pete Hegseth’s announcement that the Department of Defense plans to livestream Nidal Hasan’s execution in December – some hard-right Republicans have welcomed the information.
“Public execution is what this terrorist deserves,” said Andy Ogles, a GOP congressman from Tennessee. “We might be watching.”
While there’s restricted analysis about assist for public executions, in line with a recent Pew survey, 66% of Americans favor the loss of life penalty for these convicted of homicide. Digging into the numbers, there may be additionally a partisan break up too – with 51% of Democrats supporting the loss of life penalty in comparison with 84% of Republicans.
However, solely 39% of Americans mentioned that capital punishment truly deters folks from committing crimes.
According to rights group Amnesty International, no less than 17 public executions are identified to have been carried out in 2025 – six in Afghanistan and 11 in Iran.
The Death Penalty Information Center says that 135 troopers have been executed by the US army since 1916.
“Secretary Hegseth’s feedback could also be merely aspirational,” the middle mentioned in an announcement.
“There is presently no regulation or precedent for an execution to be stay streamed on the web or in any other case made extensively out there to the general public.”
Amnesty International Australia has urged the nation’s prime minister Anthony Albanese to press the US to reverse its resolution over the Pentagon’s livestreamed execution plan.
“The suggestion that an execution by firing squad needs to be livestreamed for public viewing is an appalling disregard for human dignity,” mentioned Kyinzom Dhongdue, a marketing campaign supervisor on the rights group.
“Turning a state-sanctioned killing right into a public spectacle solely compounds the cruelty of the loss of life penalty.“
Livestreaming US execution would quantity to torture, says UN
A choice by US officers to livestream the execution of convicted killer Nidal Hasan would quantity to torture, the UN mentioned.
US defence officers mentioned US Army psychiatrist Hasan, who shot and killed 13 folks at a army base in 2009, would face a firing squad and the execution could be broadcast stay, including that particulars would come later.
“The livestreaming of an execution is tantamount to a public execution and would breach absolutely the prohibition of torture,” the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights mentioned in a message despatched to AFP.
The UN physique mentioned it had made comparable statements about public executions in Afghanistan and Iran, saying they “represent a type of merciless, inhuman or degrading remedy or punishment”.
Pete Hegseth has mentioned the execution of Nidal Hasan, the previous military psychiatrist who killed 13 folks at Fort Hood, might be a public occasion when the sentence is carried out later this 12 months.
A defence division official later confirmed the execution could be livestreamed.
In an interview with the rightwing channel Real America’s Voice, the defence secretary mentioned the firing squad would perform the sentence at Fort Hood, Texas on 3 December. It could be the primary US army execution in additional than 60 years.
Rachel Leingang
US voters are about to ship their first nationwide verdict on the second presidency of Donald Trump. On 3 November, hundreds of thousands of Americans will vote in midterm elections to determine management of the House of Representatives and Senate, in addition to the governorships in 36 states. The outcomes might have a huge effect on Trump’s last two years in workplace.
Today, the Guardian launches its 2026 midterm voter panel. Our reporters have interviewed 9 voters throughout the nation and the political spectrum in regards to the points that matter to them, from the price of residing, immigration and healthcare to the struggle in Iran and whether or not they belief their political leaders.
The solutions – highlights of that are printed under – supply perception into the nationwide temper with lower than a month to go till election day. The Guardian will return to its voter panel earlier than the ultimate votes are solid.
Pentagon’s ‘disgusting’ livestreamed execution plan provokes fierce backlash throughout political divide
Hello and welcome to the US politics stay weblog.
The Pentagon’s plan to livestream the execution of Nidal Hasan, a former military psychiatrist who killed 13 folks at Fort Hood, has obtained fierce criticism from throughout the political spectrum.
In an interview with Real America’s Voice, protection secretary Pete Hegseth mentioned the firing squad will perform the sentence at Fort Hood, Texas, at 1pm on Thursday, 3 December. This could be the primary US army execution in additional than 60 years.
A protection division official later confirmed the execution might be livestreamed, prompting condemnation throughout the political divide.
Speaking on CNN, Democratic senator Chris Murphy mentioned:
I imply, that’s disgusting. What, is he mimicking ISIS executions? I imply, I perceive that on this nation we’ve got the loss of life penalty, however public execution is medieval. It’s frankly one of many issues that we abhor about terrorist teams, and the truth that the United States is doing it – I simply discovered this.
That is simply completely extraordinary, galling. No matter whether or not you assist or oppose the loss of life penalty, public hangings and executions? That’s what America has change into? Um, that’s, that’s fairly extraordinary.
Republican senator Thom Tillis mentioned public executions have been what “oppressive dictators” did. In a social media post, he mentioned:
Hasan ought to face the loss of life penalty, however making his execution public and streaming it? Beyond disgusting. Public executions are what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do. It shouldn’t be taking place in America.
Meanwhile, Democratic senator Patty Murray commented:
We can search justice on this nation with out glorifying violence and turning an execution right into a grotesque public spectacle. What this legal did was abhorrent and have to be punished – however we as a rustic can not condone livestreaming a person’s loss of life for leisure.
We are gone the times of public hangings within the city sq.. Kids watch what our leaders do and say, is this sort of bloodshed actually what we would like them seeing? The Pentagon should revoke this resolution instantly.
And the Democratic consultant Betty McCollum said:
Secretary Hegseth’s need to conduct a public execution is disturbing and needs to be stopped. The Army has not performed an execution by firing squad since World War II and the U.S. has not had a public execution since 1936. Nidal Hasan has been discovered responsible of his crimes and needs to be held accountable for them however turning a federal execution right into a media spectacle is appalling and unbecoming of the U.S. army.
The Pentagon’s announcement additionally drew backlash from human rights teams, whereas New Zealand’s nationwide censor mentioned on Friday it will be unable to dam the deliberate livestreamed execution.
Speaking in regards to the prospect of the execution being livestreamed, Hegseth had said:
It was a radical Islamist assault in uniform contained in the ranks, and so he’s going to get a firing squad of troopers, accurately, and we’ll make it possible for individuals are in a position to watch it, that it’s public, as a result of folks want to know there’s severe penalties for some of these issues.
Hasan opened hearth at a medical processing heart on the Texas base on 5 November 2009, killing 13 folks and wounding dozens extra. A army jury sentenced him to loss of life in 2013, and he has been held at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas ever since. He exhausted his appeals final 12 months, which cleared the best way for Donald Trump to approve the sentence this week on a suggestion from Hegseth.
In different developments:
-
In a televised Maine Senate debate Democrat Troy Jackson mentioned that, along with Brett Kavanaugh, Republican Susan Collins has voted to substantiate dozens of anti-abortion judges.
-
Republican Mike Rogers frequently used Islamophobic assaults on Democrat Abdul El-Sayed in a Michigan Senate debate, accusing the Muslim candidate of being “purchased off by Hamas, Hezbollah, al-Qaida”.
-
Donald Trump claimed that the US is not going to strike Iran “at any time prior” to the midterm elections on 3 November.
