Arizona to use Nazi gas to execute prisoners – National & International News – THU 3Jun2021

Arizona to use Nazi gas to execute prisoners. Israel: opposition parties say they have a coalition; what it means for relations with US, Iran.

NATIONAL NEWS

Arizona to use Nazi gas to execute prisoners

Since 2014 when a horrendously botched lethal injection made national headlines, Arizona’s death penalty has been on hiatus. Now, the state has refurbished its gas chamber, last used 22 years ago, to commence executions of 115 inmates currently on death row.

The state has procured a brick of potassium cyanide, a necessary ingredient to produce hydrogen cyanide gas. This is the same gas that the Nazis used in the death chambers of WWII. Then, it was produced by Bayer known as Zyklon B.

Constitutionality questions

Death from hydrogen cyanide is neither quick, painless nor peaceful. German national Walter LaGrand, the last person executed in the gas chamber in Arizona and in the US, took an agonizing 18 minutes to die. For this reason, there have been various legal debates over the years whether the practice is a cruel and unusual punishment, and therefore unconstitutional.

At least one federal court declared the state of California’s gas chamber protocol to be cruel and unusual. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals had attempted to stop LaGrand’s gas chamber death on these grounds, but the Supreme Court overruled the 9th’s decision and allowed the execution to go ahead.

Wrongful executions

It might not trouble most if a convicted murderer suffers a prolonged, gruesome death. But it’s worth considering that since the 1970s, at least 185 people on death row have been exonerated. Researchers also believe that dozens who have already been executed since that same may have been innocent or victims of gross prosecutorial misconduct. Two such cases are Walter Barton was Nathianiel Woods, who were executed last year.

Arizona has already selected two inmates who will be first to die in their newly-refurbished gas chamber. Attorneys for one of these men, Frank Atwood, 65, have raised serious doubts as to his guilt. His attorneys have condemned Arizona’s rush to execute Atwood since investigations into these doubts are ongoing and have been severely hampered by the pandemic.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Israeli opposition creates governing coalition

Israeli centrist Yair Lapid and ultra-nationalist Naftali Bennett told President Reuven Rivlin last night that they have managed to cobble together a viable coalition to unseat longtime Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The coalition must still pass a confidence vote in the Knesset in order to take power. The coalition needs 61 votes of confidence from the 120-member body. There remain some points of friction among the difference parties of the nascent coalition to be ironed out before the vote takes place.

The coalition, if approved, is sure to be a fragile one. Under the current agreement, ultra-nationalist Bennett would serve as prime minister for the first two years, with centrist Lapid taking the second two years. Both will have their work cut out for them in balancing the various interests of coalition members.

Many observers are hoping that the unity coalition could bring out positive change in Israel and the wider region. President Biden has signaled that he would welcome a change in power in Israel. 

What’s at stake?

A lot will be riding on what happens next in the Knesset. Rival power Iran will also be holding presidential elections this month. A hardliner is all but sure to take power. This will certainly impact ongoing negotiations between Iran and the US to restore the 2015 nuclear deal. Netanyahu’s government has consistently rejected the deal and taken steps to undermine it. The years that the deal was intact were some of the most peaceful in the region, and peace has typically been bad news for Netanyahu’s hardline Likud party. 

As talks between the US and Iran have intensified, so have Israel’s covert acts of sabotage in Iran. These include cyber sabotage of Iran’s nuclear facilities, assassinations of scientists, and recent targeting of Iranian naval vessels. Yesterday, Iran’s largest naval ship suffered a mysterious fire on board and subsequently sank. 

This has set up a tit-for-tat between Israel in Iran, with each accusing the other of acts of military sabotage. Israel has also accused Iran of supplying weapons to Hamas in the recent war.

It remains to be seen how Lapid and Bennett’s government will interact with its neighbors. Even though Likud would no longer be in power, it still holds 30 seats, more than any other party. Even with an Arab party in the coalition, the parliamentary presence of Likud and other hardline parties outside the coalition could be sufficient to maintain a hardline militaristic stance in Israel’s foreign and domestic policy.

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If you have time and want to know more, here’s a 25-minute panel discussion of Israel-US relations and their wider implications (opens in new tab).