In the United States Idaho state, death row inmates could soon be executed by a firing squad. As per AFP, the state legislature on Monday passed a bill allowing execution by firing squad in the absence of lethal injections. The conservative state’s Senate passed the bill by 24 votes in favour and 11 against. The bill must now be signed into law by the governor.
Once the law is signed, Idaho will become the fifth US state to approve execution by firing squad.
The other four states, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, are Utah, Oklahoma, Mississippi, and South Carolina.
The non-profit organisation American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has denounced the passage of the law as “appalling” and has labelled the rule “archaic.”
“A firing squad is particularly gruesome…such executions leave lasting scars on all those involved,” said the organisation’s Idaho arm in a statement.
Citing experts, ACLU said that those executed by firing squad “likely experience extreme levels of pain and torture”.
Death by firing squad will only be allowed if lethal injection is not possible.
Recently, US states where the death penalty is allowed have been facing difficulty acquiring chemicals needed for lethal injection. This is reportedly due to opposition from pharmaceutical companies, which are hesitant to have their names associated with executions.
In the United States, since 1976, two men and a woman have been executed in this way; the last one was in 2010. These three people have all been executed in the western US state of Utah.
(With inputs from agencies)
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