Tech 4 Peace
What is the truth about the video being circulated that supposedly shows Rayan al-Kildani cutting off the ear of a detainee?
A video has been circulated on social media, accompanied by the following text: "Rayan al-Kildani, from the Christian minority in Iraq, leader of the Babylon Brigades militia affiliated with the Shia Hashd, is torturing innocent Sunnis by cutting off their ears."
The truth
The attached claim is false, as the person appearing in the circulated video cutting off the ear of a detainee is named (Sajad Aziz al-Basiri) nicknamed (Abu Sakar) born in Basra Governorate in 1988, belonging to Brigade 28 in the Popular Mobilization Forces known as (Saraya Ansar al-Aqeeda).
The circulated video had been previously published in past years, including the day after al-Basiri's death in the Hamrin Hills on January 14, 2016, indicating his act of cutting the detainee's ear. Other accounts also published the video in the same year, attributing the act to al-Basiri.
Al-Kildani denied his connection to the video showing the ear-cutting of a detainee in a post on his Facebook page on October 31, 2023, and reaffirmed his denial during an interview on Al-Rasheed TV on March 26, 2023, saying:
"They brought a video of a person cutting someone's ear, and they said this is Rayan cutting the ear. Now what should I tell them? We cut other things, we don't cut ears!"
It is noteworthy that the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on al-Kildani in 2019 for "serious human rights violations," according to the department's statement.
The department's statement mentioned the following:
"A video was circulated among Iraqi civil society organizations defending human rights showing al-Kildani cutting off the ear of a shackled detainee."
However, upon searching for it, we did not find such a video except for the misleading video attached to the claim.
