Retired US generals call on Pentagon to cancel ‘barbaric’ execution livestream

Retired US generals call on Pentagon to cancel ‘barbaric’ execution livestream

A group of 72 retired US generals, admirals, and other high-ranking military officers are pressing the US government to cancel plans to livestream an execution by firing squad.

“We ask the President, our Congressional representatives, and our fellow citizens to act to prevent this barbaric abuse of authority,” they wrote in a letter where they also argued the livestream would turn the mass killer into a “martyr”.

Last week, the Pentagon announced it would publicly show the 3 December execution of Nidal Hasan, an Army psychiatrist who shot dead 13 unarmed US soldiers at the Fort Hood military base.

Lawmakers from both parties, as well as religious leaders, have criticised the plan.

Last week President Donald Trump said he “absolutely” approved of the livestream plan, but some administration officials are now leaning against it, according to CBS News, the BBC’s US media partner. CBS reported thatTrump had not yet made a final decision on the livestream as of Tuesday.

In the open letter released on Wednesday, the former military leaders – which included 45 generals, 12 admirals and several former judge advocates general – said they did not oppose the death penalty being carried out.

But they argued a public execution would violate the US Constitution’s protections against cruel and unusual punishment and turn what should be a “solemn and grave punishment” into “a carnival for the enjoyment of voyeurs and spectators”.

“This type of exploitative broadcasting – that debases human dignity- will taint the honor of the military that employs it, and a nation that allows it,” they also wrote.