Executions USA: Two men executed in Tennessee and Oklahoma

In Oklahoma, Jeremy Williams was executed by nitrogen hypoxia. This state, too, is among those US states that continue to carry out the death penalty. The nitrogen method had already been used in Oklahoma in earlier cases and has drawn international criticism because of the risk of agonizing side effects.

Legal framework in the USA

The Death Penalty Information Center notes that the death penalty is legally permitted in more than two dozen of the 50 US states. In some of these states, however, it is no longer applied de facto – either because of a moratorium, because no suitable substances are available, or because the responsible governor has imposed an execution halt.

The USA continue to belong to a small group of Western states that actually carry out executions. While the death penalty has been abolished or suspended in the European Union, across much of Latin America, and in most African states, the political trend in the USA has moved in the opposite direction in recent years. Individual states have expanded the death penalty, accelerated executions, and introduced new methods of execution.

International criticism of the death penalty

With these two executions, the number of death sentences carried out in the USA in the current year continues to rise. The Death Penalty Information Center documents the proceedings, the number of executions per state, and the share of the population that supports the death penalty. The organization does not take an abolitionist position but provides facts for public debate.

Human rights organizations such as Amnesty International have for years opposed the death penalty in the USA, citing cases of wrongful conviction, the discriminatory application against members of minorities, and the inhumanity of certain methods of execution. The execution of Jeremy Williams by nitrogen hypoxia is likely to fuel this criticism once again.

The cases of Hines and Williams stand as examples of the ongoing practice of the death penalty in the USA. While some states suspend executions, others remain steadfast in carrying them out – sometimes with classical methods such as lethal injection, sometimes with experimental procedures.

Observers expect the US states of Alabama, Tennessee, and Oklahoma to schedule further executions in the coming months. Alabama recently announced a new date. The political debate over the death penalty remains a constant issue in the USA – between supporters who cite deterrence and victim protection, and opponents who stress the irreversibility of the punishment.