UN rights chief calls for no further execution attempts against Christa Pike
The failed execution has renewed concerns over the use of the death penalty and the risks associated with unsuccessful executions.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has called on US authorities to make no further attempts to execute Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike after a failed execution attempt left her suffering for an extended period.
Pike's execution by lethal injection was halted on Thursday (1 October) after medical personnel were unable to establish the intravenous access needed to administer the drugs.
The failed execution has renewed concerns over the use of the death penalty and the risks associated with unsuccessful executions.
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"Prolonged physical and mental suffering caused by multiple failed attempts to carry out an execution amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment," Türk said in a statement issued by the UN Human Rights Office.
The UN rights chief also raised concerns about fair-trial issues in Pike's case and urged US authorities to halt any further attempts to execute her.
Pike was sentenced to death in Tennessee for the 1995 murder of 18-year-old Colleen Slemmer. She was the first woman in Tennessee to face execution in more than two decades.
Following the failed execution attempt, Tennessee suspended further executions until the end of the year.
