UN calls US plans to livestream execution 'abhorrent'

​The United Nations on ​Friday called US plans ‌to ​livestream the execution of Nidal Hasan, the gunman who killed 13 ‌people at the Fort Hood military base in 2009, "abhorrent" and said it could be a violation of prohibitions against ‌torture.

"These kinds of public executions we've seen in ‌other countries, whether it's Iran or Afghanistan ... can constitute a form of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, or punishment," UN spokesperson Stephane ⁠Dujarric ​told a ⁠daily UN briefing in New York. "Showing it live is tantamount ... to ⁠it being public, and could be a violation of ​the prohibition against torture," he said. "A government executing someone ⁠in public, or in front of live cameras, frankly, is abhorrent."

Hasan ⁠is ​set to become the first person to be executed by US military firing squad since 1945. ⁠The execution is scheduled for December 3 at the same ⁠sprawling ⁠Texas base where Hasan opened fire with a handgun in a medical facility.