SOME of the world’s most brutal execution methods are still in use for those who commit the most severe and unforgivable crimes.
Whether it’s death by “long drop” hanging, being vapourised by anti-aircraft guns or forced to breath in pure nitrogen, criminals continue to be dealt chilling forms of capital punishment.
Crane hanging is considered one of the most barbaric ways to dieAFP
AFPChinese convicts preparing to be sentenced to death[/caption]
Nitrogen execution has been slammed as inhumane due to never being tested before
ReutersKenneth Eugene Smith, 58, is the first person ever on death row to be killed using lethal nitrogen gas[/caption]
Despite major push-backs from human rights groups all across the globe, a number of inhumane and unimaginable endings to human life are still in play.
Lethal injection is the most common – and painless – form of execution but far more barbaric and much less scientific methods are often preferred despite providing the same grisly result.
Gassed To Death
Kenneth Eugene Smith, 58, was the first person ever on death row to be killed using lethal nitrogen gas – a method the UN branded “torture”.
The gas is set to kill Smith through nitrogen hypoxia when a respirator-type face mask is placed over his nose and mouth as it is filled with nitrogen.
The state of Alabama – where the controversial death is set to take place – said the inmate would lose consciousness within seconds and die within minutes.
Critics of the method have slammed it for being inhumane as the method is untested and Smith’s legal team has said he is at risk for prolonged suffering and choking to death on his own vomit.
Medics have also warned that it can cause a range of problems including severe convulsions or leaving the man in a permanent vegetative state.
Smith is set to be killed in America on Thursday evening after he was jailed in 1996 for the murder of preacher’s wife Elizabeth Sennett.
‘Long-Drop’ Hanging
‘Long drop’ hanging is used across the world despite it being one of the oldest execution methods
Shinji Aoba, 45, stormed into the building in Kyoto in July, 2019 screaming “drop dead” before setting it alight in one of the deadliest crimes in Japan’s recent history.
His punishment was to be sentenced to death through a traumatic method known as long-drop hanging.
Convicts are led to the deathly gallows blindfolded and cuffed by their hands and feet.
Then, in a separate room, several prison officers press a button simultaneously to trigger a trapdoor beneath the convict.
Many have argued that the method of hanging is prone to botched executions and makes for a long, agonising death – although in most cases the person being hung has their neck broke instantly.
Shockingly, long-drop hanging was actually introduced as a more humane method of hanging as the short alternative saw criminals left fighting for their lives as they slowly strangled to death.
Hanging is the oldest and most widely used way of executing criminals and is still also used in Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Singapore, South Korea, Pakistan and India.
It’s even an option for US criminals on death row in New Hampshire.
One of the most famous examples of a person being subjected to death by hanging was wicked tyrant Saddam Hussein in 2006.
Gas Chambers
APMany forms of execution require prisoners to be strapped into a chair[/caption]
Dying by nitrogen gas is a cruel way to die but being placed in a specially designed airtight gas chamber is far worse.
Prisoners are strapped into a chair as the door to their death room is slammed shut and bolted, before a toxic combination of various gases are pumped into the room.
Usually a form of cyanide and other acids, this lethal combination is created via a pail of sulphuric acid that is mixed with sodium cyanide crystals by flicking a lever from the outside.
The hydrogen cyanide gas created seeps into the room and forces the prisoner to breath it in until they die of hypoxia.
But reports have suggested this method of death is severe and painful.
According to a former prison warden, Clifton Duffy: “There is evidence of extreme horror, pain, and strangling. The eyes pop. The skin turns purple and the victim begins to drool.”
And Dr Richard Traystman described the sensation as similar to a chilling heart attack.
A federal court in California described the execution as “cruel and unusual” as a form of punishment.
Despite this seven states in the US still have cyanide gas as a method to be used as an alternative to the lethal injection.
Death By Stoning
Footage of a stoning with a man buried in a hole as an audience watches on
One of the most public methods of capital punishment is stoning.
A truly barbaric visual, being stoned to death is believed to be one of the slowest forms of execution as the person gets pelted with heavy rocks until they die.
The rare but horrendous way to be killed sees a person placed in an isolated area as others use specially sized rocks and sticks to hurl them until they pass out and die.
Many reports have previously described the horror scene as a person being “buried in a hole and covered in soil” up to their neck so their head is exposed.
The horror stoning then begins, with rocks relentlessly pummelled at the victim, sometimes for hours of horrific suffering, until they die – bloodied and in pain.
A doctor recruited to oversee the execution will pause the stoning periodically to check whether the victim is dead.
If not, the brutal battering continues.
Also called lapidation, stoning is done in countries that are governed by sharia law and therefore carried out in some Muslim countries as a form of “community justice”.
Iran has the highest number of stoning’s, but the punishment is mostly given out in Middle Eastern countries to this day for charges of adultery or rape – but it is a rare demise.
Iran’s Penal Code even has specific instructions for how the savage execution should be carried out, stating: “The size of the stone used in stoning shall not be too large to kill the convict by one or two throws and at the same time shall not be too small to be called a stone.”
Human rights groups have called for the execution method to be axed for decades dubbing it “a grave violation of international law” and strongly favoured as a punishment for female offenders.
Firing Squad
Some countries still have death by firing squad as a way to execute prisoners
A typical execution by firing squad involves a person being strapped to a chair so they can’t move and placed against a wall.
The prisoner is made to wear a hooded mask as five men armed with rifles take aim from around 20ft away.
Designed to pierce through the criminal’s vital organs and heart, the men aim at their chest at the same time.
The person will either die quickly as bullets rip through their heart and they bleed out or face a grislier demise and slowly bleed out if the gunmen miss the organs.
The criminal is surrounded by sandbags to absorb their blood that ends up pouring out through the devastating bullet holes.
In the US, five states currently allow for death by firing squad as a last resort option.
Several other countries also use a firing squad to end a person’s life as many believe North Korea – a country who keep almost everything secret to the outside world – use it frequently according to leaked online reports.
It is seen as incredibly inhumane and many view it as excessive.
Anti-Aircraft Gun
An anti-aircraft gun people have claimed North Korea use to kill prisoners
While anti-aircraft guns are often used by the military during war, North Korea like to use them as a form of capital punishment, according to reports.
Once called Kim Jong-Un‘s favourite method of execution by South Korean special intelligence, reports surfaced that the dictator’s Defence Minister Hyong Yong Chol was pulverized to death by one.
Hee Yeon Lim, a 26-year-old defector from North Korea, claimed that she was part of a 10,000-person crowd forced to watch on as 11 musicians who allegedly made a pornographic video were eliminated.
She told western media: “What I saw that day made me sick in my stomach. They were lashed to the end of anti-aircraft guns.
“A gun was fired, the noise was deafening, absolutely terrifying. And the guns were fired one after the other.”
“The musicians just disappeared each time the guns were fired into them. Their bodies were blown to bits, totally destroyed, blood and bits flying everywhere.”
North Korea has also been accused of killing those who break their strict state laws by using flame throwers and public decapitations.
Crane Hanging
Fars News AgencyVictims are hoisted up by a crane attached to their noose until they choke to death[/caption]
Similar to normal hanging and long-drop hanging, crane hanging involves a noose placed around a criminals neck.
However, instead of falling through a trap door, victims are hoisted up by a crane attached to their noose.
With their hands and feet tied, they remain utterly helpless as they are essentially strangled in a slow and agonising way.
Afterwards, the family of the execution victims are reportedly forced to pay for the noose and are not given the bodies until they pay up.
Beheadings in Saudi
Beheading are considered one of the most barbaric forms of execution and are still used in Saudi Arabia today.
AS the only country to still use this killing method, the unfortunate victims are quite literally decapitated.
More often than not, these take place without any warning, with families of the victims never seeing their loved ones again.
In 2022, recorded executions in Saudi Arabia reached 196, the highest number recorded in the country in 30 years.
China’s death vans
YouTubeChina’s hi-tech ‘death van’ where criminals are executed and then their organs are sold on black market[/caption]
China’s death vans are a unique and bizarre method of execution, in which a convict is quite literally put into the back of a van and executed.
This method is seen as a more efficient way of executing prisoners without having to transport them to a jail.
Often driven out to a remote area, the victim will be strapped to a table inside the vehicle where they are administered the lethal injection.
Once killed, their organs are harvested and sold on the black market, primarily for use in medicine and scientific experiements.
Deaths by burning
ISIS have been renowned for causing death by burning – one of the most painful ways a person can die.
Quite literally set alight, victims suffer unimaginable pain until they are burnt beyond recognition.
Militants of the terror group have used it as an excuse to punish those behind raids, despite burning to death as a punishment being unheard of in the contemporary Middle East.
Victims are usually trapped inside a cage and set alight, or bound to a large pole in which they are tied by rope.
ReutersThe public sentencing of 55 people in a stadium in Yining, northern Xinjiang province in China[/caption]
A woman being taken to be executed after being convicted of murder
Two half-buried Iranian prisoners in hoods being stoned to death
AFPShinji Aoba has been sentenced to death by ‘long drop’ hanging after an arson attack in Japan[/caption]