By Christiaan Triebert
Warning: this article contains graphic material. Update: Incident Four and Five have been geolocated.
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The Footage: Seven Incidents in Seven Videos … cont.
Incident Four
The ICC arrest warrant states the following:
Mr Al-Werfalli is seen in a video footage in an outdoor setting together with two other men who carry weapons and whose heads are covered. The three men stand behind two other men, who are dressed in camouflage and are kneeling bare feet on the ground. The two men are claimed to be, the first, a member of the BRSC, and the second, possibly a member of Ansar al-Sharia. The two men can be seen earlier in the video footage being detained in a cage. Mr Al-Werfalli is seen walking away from the kneeling men, while the other two men with firearms walk towards them. Mr Al-Werfalli has his left hand in the air and sweeps it down towards the ground in a manner that suggests that he is ordering them to proceed with the execution. The two men shoot the kneeling persons who fall on the ground. The video depicting this incident was posted on social media on or about 22 May 2017.
The fourth video is also still available online on Facebook, with a duration of 2:47. It has been watched almost 37,000 times and shared 340 times as of writing this article. Only the last 9 seconds of the video show the execution, and the rest of the video shows interviews with the two individuals who are claimed to be members of the BRSC and Ansar Al-Sharia.
The source is the same Facebook profile as the one that posted the video showing Incident One. It is unclear whether this profile is the original source of the video.
The accompanying text with the video claims to show “the execution of the death penalty” (Arabic: تنفيذ حكم الإعدام) in Benghazi of a BRSC member and an Ansar Al-Sharia member.
The upload time of the video to Facebook is May 22, 2017, at 11:27 am local time in Benghazi. This date is consistent with the date mentioned by the ICC.
In the fourth video, Werfalli is seen in an outdoor setting with two other men wearing balaclavas. They stand behind two other men who are claimed to be a member of the BRSC and Ansar Al-Sharia. Werfalli orders the two man wearing balaclavas to proceed with the execution of the two other men.
The execution site has been geolocated by Twitter-user @5urpher to a compound in Al-Hawari, a southern suburb of Benghazi. The coordinates are 32.046755, 20.116750 (Google Maps, Wikimapia).
A satellite image of Google Earth of the compound in southern Benghazi where the execution shown in the Incident Four video took place.
It is unclear when this video was recorded, though once it is geolocated it may be able to determine an approximate time of the day based on the clearly visible shadows.
Incident Five
The ICC arrest warrant states the following:
Mr Al-Werfalli, wearing a full camouflage uniform, is seen in a video footage in an outdoor setting together with five men wearing hoods and camouflage trousers and holding firearms. Those five hooded, armed men stand behind four other hooded men, who are kneeling barefoot on the ground with their hands behind their backs. They point their firearms at each kneeling person’s head. Mr Al-Werfalli raises his left hand in the air and sweeps it down towards the ground in a manner that suggests that he is ordering them to proceed with the execution. The five men shoot the four kneeling persons, who fall on the ground. The video depicting this incident was posted on social media on 9 June 2017.
The fifth video can be found online on Facebook, uploaded by someone using the username “aalathry1” with Facebook identification number 1797850107. The execution takes place in the last 47 seconds of the video.
The video was uploaded on June 9, 2017 at 2:29 pm local time in Benghazi. This date is consistent with the ICC warrant.
The exact date when this execution took place is unknown.
The exact location of this execution site has been geolocated by Twitter-user @5urpher to a military compound between Benghazi and the airport. The coordinates are 32.122988, 20.164492. The location was found by using the lines of electricity of OpenStreetMap in Benghazi.
The location of Incident Five (yellow pin) in Google Earth, with an overlay of electricity pylons (black squares).
Incident Six
The ICC arrest warrant states the following:
Mr Al-Werfalli is seen in a video footage in an area of desert together with two other men who are holding firearms. They stand behind two other persons, who are kneeling on the ground with their hands behind their back. Mr Al-Werfalli is seen speaking into the camera and then raising his left hand in the air and sweeping it down towards the ground in a manner that suggests that he is ordering the two men to proceed with the execution. The men shoot the persons kneeling, who fall on the ground. The video depicting this incident was posted on social media on 19 June 2017.
The sixth video is available on both Facebook and YouTube with a duration of 59 seconds. The video has been watched 80,000 times on Facebook and 18,000 times on YouTube.
The Facebook source is a page – not an account – with username “Benghazi2”.
The YouTube source is a channel named “Libya Al-Mostakbal”, which has over 1,000 subscribers. The accompanying text states that the video was published on social media, suggesting Libya Al-Mostakbal reuploaded the video and is not the original source. It says that Werfalli is shown in the video, ordering the execution of two men on an unknown date at an unknown place.
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The upload time of the video to Facebook is June 19, 2017, at 9:19 pm, which is consistent with the time mentioned in the ICC arrest warrant.
It is unclear when this video was recorded.
The exact location of this desert area has not been found yet, but you can help trying to find the exact location. Hints and possible locations can be posted on Check, where there is a specific entry for the geolocation of this video.
Incident Seven
The ICC arrest warrant states the following:
Mr Al-Werfalli, wearing a black cap, camouflage trousers and a black t-shirt bearing the logo of the Al-Saiqa Brigade, is seen in a video footage, together with two other persons wearing camouflage trousers, black t-shirts, and holding firearms. Mr Al-Werfalli is holding a white document from which he reads. He refers to the document as a “Decree decision” which “shall be executed today 17/07/2017”. The video also depicts 18 persons wearing orange jumpsuits and black hoods, with their hands tied behind their backs, kneeling bare feet on the ground, in four lines. After reading the document, Mr Al-Werfalli says “Attention! The first group!” and then “Ready! Aim! Fire!” As he does so, five men in camouflage uniform, hooded, and carrying firearms, walk from behind the group of kneeling persons to the front and position themselves behind the first line of five kneeling persons. They raise their firearms at them and shoot. The persons fall on the ground. One person in the second line also falls. The shooters then return behind the group of the other kneeling persons.
Then Mr Al-Werfalli is recorded saying “The second group! Ready! Aim! Fire!” As he does so, five men walk again from behind the group and position themselves behind the second line of five kneeling persons. The person who has collapsed during the first shooting is pulled back to his knees by one of the men. The five men then raise their firearms and shoot the five kneeling persons, who fall on the ground. The shooters then return behind the group of the other kneeling persons.
When Mr Al-Werfalli says “Attention! Attention, the third group!” and “Ready! Aim! Fire!” five men walk again from behind the group, position themselves behind the third line of five kneeling persons, raise their weapons and shoot them. The persons fall on the ground and the shooters return behind the group of the remaining kneeling persons.
Mr Al-Werfalli and the two other persons wearing camouflage trousers, black t-shirts, and holding firearms then walk behind the final line of three remaining kneeling persons. Mr Al-Werfalli is seen to still hold the white document from which he has read earlier. Mr Al-Werfalli and the other two men raise their firearms and shoot the three kneeling persons, who fall on the ground. He and one of the other men fire some additional shots towards the persons on the ground before walking away.
In the same video, in a new segment, Mr Al-Werfalli, wearing a black cap, camouflage trousers and a black t-shirt bearing the Al-Saiqa Brigade logo, is seen together with two men wearing orange jumpsuits and black hoods kneeling on the ground. One of the two kneeling men has his hands in front of him while the other has his hands on the back of his head. Mr Al-Werfalli is holding a white document folded in his hand. He is recorded saying “Ready! Aim! Fire!” As he does so, two hooded men in camouflage, carrying firearms, walk forward, raise their weapons and shoot at the two kneeling persons, who fall on the ground. The men fire some additional shots at the victims before walking away.
The video depicting this incident, involving in total 20 executed persons, was posted on social media on 23 July 2017. The data indicates that the video may have been uploaded in the Benghazi area, in Libya.
The seventh and last video is also still available online. A 4:46-long video was posted to Facebook by the same account that posted the Incident One and Incident Four videos. Segments of that video have been used by several other YouTube accounts from media organisations. It is unclear whether this profile is the original source of the video(s).
The accompanying text with the video claims to show the execution of twenty “terrorists” sentenced to death because they were allegedly involved in kidnapping, torture, killing, bombing, and slaughtering.
The upload time of the video to Facebook is July 23, 2017, at 5:14pm local time in Benghazi, which is consistent with the time mentioned in the arrest warrant.
It is unclear when this video was recorded, though the accompanying text claims it was filmed in Benghazi.
The exact location of this location has not been found yet, but you can help trying to find the exact location. Hints and possible locations can be posted on Check, where there is a specific entry for the geolocation of this video. A stitched panorama shown above may be of help. The buildings in the upper side of the panorama are a potential clue to the location.
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Christiaan Triebert is an all-source conflict analyst with an interest in conflict and development. He has conducted fieldwork in Syria, Iraq, and Ukraine, among other countries. King’s College London and University of Groningen graduate.
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