The Pentagon announced it will livestream the execution of convicted mass shooter Nidal Malik Hasan. This is a first for the United States.
The announcement, made by a Pentagon spokesperson on Thursday, prompted a backlash from the legal community, with experts and rights groups raising concerns that it violates U.S. and international law and could particularly put minors at risk.
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The U.S. military rarely uses the death penalty, and the last time an officer was hanged was in 1961. Firing squads are even more rare, being last used by the military in 1945.
Here’s what we know:
What was Hasan convicted of?
On November 5, 2009, then-Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan opened fire at an Army processing center in Fort Hood, Texas, killing 13 people and injuring 32 others.
Army psychiatrists found that he was acting to prevent the deployment of troops to Afghanistan and to stop the killing of fellow Muslims. Hasan himself was scheduled to deploy later that month.
After a lengthy military trial in which Mr. Hassan made little effort to defend himself, a jury convicted him in July 2013 of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of murder and sentenced him to death.
It said Mr. Hasan was found to have acted on religious grounds and communicated with al-Qaeda-linked elements, but Mr. Hasan was not convicted of “terrorism” charges because the U.S. Military Justice Act does not have a stand-alone charge.
The Pentagon announced this week that US President Donald Trump had given the green light for Hasan to be executed by firing squad. The military requires presidential approval for executions, and only the president can prescribe specific methods.
When and where will Hassan be executed?
On Thursday, Pentagon officials announced that Mr. Hasan will be executed at the same Fort Hood military base where he killed 13 people in 2009.
Officials said the execution would be livestreamed.
Acting Army Secretary Adam Tere set the execution date for December 3 at 1pm local time (6pm GMT).
What did Hegseth say?
Hegseth said in a podcast interview this week that livestreams act as a deterrent.
“We’re going to make it available for people to watch and we’re going to make it public because people need to understand that there are serious consequences to this type of event,” Hegseth said in an interview with far-right podcaster Jack Posobiec.
He added that the timing of the execution was symbolic. “We’re going to do it at 1 a.m., which is when he did it, and soldiers with rifles will execute him by firing squad.”
Who usually attends an execution?
Rules differ in the 27 U.S. states where the death penalty is still in place.
Texas law allows up to five people to witness an execution, including the victim’s next of kin, spiritual guides, law enforcement officials, state pastors, judges, sheriffs and the media.
However, everyone must be an adult over the age of 18.
When was the last public execution carried out in the United States?
It was August 14, 1936. Laney Beshear was publicly hanged in Owensboro, Kentucky, after confessing to raping and murdering 70-year-old Lisia Edwards.
What does international law say about public executions?
The United States is a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which prohibits torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishment.
Although the treaty does not completely ban the death penalty, it strictly limits its application to the “most serious crimes” and encourages its abolition.
Washington ratified the law in 1992, but with reservations, saying the United States retained the right to impose the death penalty if necessary.
Legal experts say Hasan’s public execution could violate the treaty’s ban on degrading punishment. Live streams may also be recorded and shared widely.
What does U.S. law say about who can witness an execution?
Clive Stafford Smith, a British-American human rights lawyer who represents death row inmates in the United States and founded the Louisiana Capital Assistance Center in New Orleans in 1993, which represents low-income people facing the death penalty, called the move “barbaric.”
He said broadcasting a public execution in this way would violate several U.S. laws that prohibit the transmission of obscene, pornographic, or graphic material, particularly to minors.
There is no single federal law governing who can witness an execution, but death penalty states typically prohibit minors from attending.
Similarly, the Army’s Judicial Code (PDF) prohibits minors from witnessing executions.
“I have seen six executions and still suffer from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder),” Stafford-Smith told Al Jazeera. “This is a nightmare. Some people may have a traumatic reaction to it.”
Smith said several legal challenges are likely and that the Army would have to consider several factors if it were to press ahead with relaying the execution.
He said challengers are likely to question how the U.S. military would prevent children from watching the livestream, and how it would lessen the gruesomeness of Hasan’s shooting based on the body parts targeted.
Regarding using public executions as a deterrent, Stafford-Smith added that the opposite is likely to be true. He said this could “trigger further incidents” and that Mr Hasan could be seen by some as a “martyr”.
He added: “This is likely going to go to Congress. Democrats will want to block this. So it’s going to be an interesting battle.”
How did politicians and rights groups react?
Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy called the move “disgusting” and compared it to executions by Islamic State (ISIL). “I understand that we have the death penalty in this country, but public executions are () medieval,” he said in an interview with CNN.
Amnesty International Australia said Mr Hegseth’s comments showed “an appalling disregard for human dignity” and urged Melbourne to intervene.
Meanwhile, New Zealand’s state censor has told rights groups urging protests that he does not have the power to block internet users from viewing live streams, suggesting the government’s efforts to restrict access may be thwarted.
