"The death penalty is inadmissible because it attacks the inviolability and dignity of the person." This is what the Pope wrote on X, adding the hashtag #NoDeathPenalty to his message on the World Day Against the Death Penalty. "The common good can be protected and the requirements of justice can be safeguarded without resorting to capital punishment: effective detention systems have been developed that protect citizens but, at the same time, do not completely deprive guilty persons of the possibility of redemption."
The reference, albeit indirect, was inevitable following the announcement that the execution by firing squad of Nidal Hasan, the former Army major who killed 13 people and wounded 32 others in a violent shootout at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009, will be livestreamed. "A violation of the absolute prohibition of torture," thundered the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, echoing the outrage over the Pentagon chief's shocking announcement. "People must understand that there are grave consequences for this type of action," argued Pete Hegseth, referring to the execution already scheduled for December 3rd, at the very site of the Fort Hood attack, at a time (1:00 PM) that coincides with the start of the shooting.

"He deserves the death penalty by firing squad," reiterated President Donald Trump, who this week authorized the first military firing squad deployed since the end of World War II. "I don't know if it will actually happen. This man carried out the worst terrorist attack on American soil since 9/11. If it ends up being livestreamed, I won't watch it," commented US Vice President J.D. Vance, responding in Ohio to a question about how his Christian faith can be reconciled with the controversial affair. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops was harsh. "Our God is the God of life: in no way can Hassan's actions be justified, but this decision is a barbaric promotion of a culture of death and must be reconsidered," thundered Archbishop Paul Stagg Coakley. "The spectacularization of death is unacceptable, even if the person is obviously guilty, but there are other systems, it is incomprehensible," reiterated Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, for whom "the Church's thinking is totally opposed to the death penalty."

The Pentagon's unprecedented move has also sparked strong bipartisan criticism in Congress. "Hasan should face the death penalty, but making his execution public and livestreaming it? It's absolutely repugnant," wrote Senator Thom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina, in a post on X. "Public executions are typical practices of oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan. They shouldn't happen in America," Tillis added. Democratic Senator Chris Murphy made similar comments: the idea is "repugnant" and reminiscent of executions carried out by ISIS. The paradox of Trump's decision is that the US military hasn't used this method since 1945 and no longer has a modern procedure for it. In Hasan's case, other considerations also weigh heavily, both on his transfer from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and on his condition, given that he is paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair following the injuries sustained in the shooting. The decision to use the firing squad thus forced the US military to abandon months of planning based on different methods. Internal documents made it clear that officials were preparing to resort to lethal injections, similar to those used in the recent and incredible case of Christa Pike, in Tennessee, who survived two attempts.

(Unioneonline)

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