Abstract
The proposal to livestream Nidal Hasan’s execution raises human-rights concerns far beyond the United States. Even if the broadcast is cancelled, its public announcement risks normalizing the idea that a government may turn a prisoner’s death into a spectacle for a worldwide audience.
The article examines how livestreaming carries public executions into the digital world, where footage can circulate indefinitely and violence can become entertainment. It also considers the dangerous example this could offer governments such as Iran’s, giving them another pretext to defend their own abuses or dismiss international criticism. Those governments remain fully responsible for their actions.
Cancelling the broadcast would be welcome, but it should be accompanied by an explicit rejection of executions as public spectacle and demonstrations of state power.
Read the full article in Persian below.
