[Trigger Warning: Viewer Discretion Advised. Violence, Mass Execution]
A video showing a disturbing mass execution has gone viral across social media. The video has gone viral in the context of the rapid spread of misinformation across social media intended to spread communal tensions.
Claim:
The viral video shows a group of men dressed in army fatigues shoving blindfolded men into a pit filled with bodies. These men are then shot and more men are shoved into the execution pit and shot. While sharing this video, it is being claimed that the viral video is from Turkey, where Turkish soldiers killed contractors who built subpar structures, which probably contributed to the deaths of thousands of people in the most recent earthquakes.
It is to be noted that the devastating earthquake struck southern and central Turkey and western Syria on February 6, resulting deaths of more than 50,000 people.
A Twitter user shared this video and wrote a caption which reads, “Turkish soldiers shooting corrupt civil servants and contractors whose shoddy work killed thousands of innocent people. They were paid for seismic Dampers to absorb earth quakes but they buried car tyres under the foundation of huge high rise building. Big lesson.”
[Trigger Warning: The Logical Indian is not embedding the tweet due to its sensitive graphic nature.]
A Facebook user shared this video and wrote, “Turkish soldiers summarily executing contractors whose shoddy work caused buildings to collapse during the TURKEY EARTHQUAKE. They were paid for Seismic Dampers to absorb earth quakes but they allegedly buried vehicle tyres under the foundations of huge High Rise buildings. Best way to deal with corruption is to KILL corruption and not to pamper. This is the only way to make corrupt politicians and contractors learn.”
It is being widely shared on Facebook with a similar claim.
Fact Check:
The Logical Indian Fact Check team verified the viral claim and found it to be misleading. The viral video is from 2013.
We conducted a keyframe analysis using InVid’s Keyframe Analysis tool to isolate the keyframes. One of the keyframes led us to this report by The Guardian, published on April 27, 2022. The report featured several screengrabs which matched up to visuals from the viral video.
The Guardian report carried several details about the incident shown in the video. As per the report, the executions took place in the Damascus suburb of Tadamon under the rule of the current president of Syria, Bashar al-Assad.
The infamous enforcers carried out the war crime, branch 227 of the country’s military intelligence service, with at least 41 men were executed and thrown into the mass grave. The report stated that the video was date-stamped April 16, 2013.
We also came across this video report by The Guardian, uploaded on April 27, 2022. Footage from the viral video can be seen from the 30 seconds mark:
The Guardian report found that it was difficult to identify why this group of civilians was picked out for execution. It might have been because of a collective punishment of any community that was linked to the rebels. As per the report, the video was a way of sending a lethal message to civilians in that area, to not switch to the opposition.
We also came across a video posted by @doanmuslims on May 7, 2022.
We conducted a keyword search and found an article by TRT World published on May 5th, 2022. The article detailed the war crimes that were carried out under the regime of Syria’s Ba’ath Party and the leadership of Assad. For 11 years, Assad’s regime has attempted to crush the insurrectionist movement in Syria.
The TRT World report mentions the chemical attack that took place in August 2013 in Eastern Ghouta which caused at least 1500 deaths. A week-long bombardment was carried out on August 20, 2012 in Darayya, a suburb of Damascus, where an estimated 700 people lost their lives in the air raids and at least 1,500 civilians were injured. The report also mentions one of the possible reasons that the Syrian regime had launched attacks against civilians, particularly in the case of Tadamon.
According to the NPR report published on March 15, 2021, the aftermath of the Syrian civil war has created the world’s largest refugee crisis. The brutal suppression of the rebellious movement in Syria has carried on since the Arab Spring of 2011. Over half of the country’s people are displaced with 5.5 million refugees living primarily in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt, as per the NPR report
Conclusion:
The viral video dates back to April 2013, when a brutal massacre occurred in Syria’s Damascus suburb of Tadamon. The video was published as a video report and an article by The Guardian in April 2022. The massacre of at least 41 men took place under the rule of the president of Syria, Bashar al-Assad. The viral video is not related to the recent earthquake which took place in Turkey. Hence, the viral claim is false.
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Fact Check
2023-03-26 11:25:56.0
Old Mass Execution Video From 2013 Revived As Turkish Builders Being Executed After Earthquake
