UN rights office condemns plan to livestream Nidal Malik Hasan’s execution

The UN human rights office said on October 9 that livestreaming an execution would amount to a public execution and violate the prohibition on torture. Its statement concerns the Pentagon’s plan to broadcast Nidal Malik Hasan’s execution.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a firing-squad execution scheduled for December 3. Hasan was convicted of killing 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009. The announcement concerns a future execution.

The office described public executions as cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, recalling similar statements about Afghanistan and Iran. This is its legal assessment, not a new court ruling in Hasan’s case.

Later on October 9, Vice President JD Vance questioned whether the broadcast would happen, AP reported. It remains an announced plan. The last US military execution took place in 1961.