'Breach of absolute prohibition of torture': UN on US' decision to livestream execution

The United Nations on Friday (Oct 9) said that the decision to livestream the execution of convicted killer Nidal Hasan by US officials would amount to torture. “The livestreaming of an execution is tantamount to a public execution and would breach the absolute prohibition of torture,” the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said.

The execution of convicted Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan by firing squad will be livestreamed, a Pentagon official said on Thursday, after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the execution would take place in ‘public’.

Hasan, a former US Army psychiatrist, was convicted of killing 13 people in the 2009 shooting at Fort Hood. His execution would mark the first carried out by the US military since 1961 and the first US military firing-squad execution since World War II.

Earlier on Thursday, Hegseth took to X to post a video that said Hasan is going to get a firing squad of soldiers, as it should be, and we'll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it's public. Speaking to right-wing influencer Jack Posobiec aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, Hegseth said the public should understand that executions can carry serious consequences.

"People need to understand that...there's serious consequence for these types of things," Hegseth said.

He pointed out that the planned execution would be the military's first firing-squad execution since World War II. He was referring to Eddie Slovik, a US soldier executed for desertion in 1945.

"I kind of like the mentality we had in World War II, which was win, which was understand when the enemy attacks you, you need to stand your ground," Hegseth said. In another video clip, Posobiec asked Hegseth whether Hasan had been given the opportunity to make a final request. "Don't care. We'll see him on December 3," Hegseth said, referring to the scheduled execution date.

The last US military execution took place in 1961, when John Bennett was hanged after being convicted of rape and attempted murder.