A beheading video is a type of snuff video depicting a live murder in which a hostage or victim is shown to be graphically decapitated. Such videos are typically distributed mostly through the Internet, and are often employed by groups seeking to instill shock or terror into a population. Although beheading has been a widely employed public execution method since the ancient Greeks and Romans, videos of this type only began to arise in 2002 with the beheading of Daniel Pearl and the growth of the Internet in the Information Age, which allowed groups to anonymously publish these videos for public consumption. The beheadings shown in these videos are usually not performed in a "classical" method – decapitating a victim quickly with a blow from a sword or axe – but by the relatively slow and torturous process of slicing and sawing the victim's neck, while still alive, with a knife.
History
The first beheading by the National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty was of Daniel Pearl in 2002. The videos were popularized in 2004 by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a radical Islamic militant.
The videos caused controversy among Islamic scholars, some of whom denounced them as against Islamic law; al-Qaeda did not approve and Osama bin Laden considered them poor public relations. Regardless, they became popular with certain Islamic terrorist groups, such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
Early videos were grainy and unsophisticated, but, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, had by 2004 been "growing in sophistication, using animated graphics and editing techniques apparently aimed at embellishing the audio to make a victim's final moments seem more disturbing". These videos are often uploaded to the World Wide Web by terrorists, then discussed and distributed by web-based outlets, such as blogs, shock sites, and traditional journalistic media. In 2013, a beheading video by a Mexican drug cartel spread virally on Facebook. The non-profit organization Family Online Safety Institute petitioned Facebook to remove the video. Initially, Facebook refused. They later complied, and subsequently clarified their policies, stating that beheading videos would only be allowed if posted in a manner intended for its users to "condemn" the acts.
Writing in The Atlantic, Simon Cottee drew a comparison between jihadist videos and gonzo pornography.
Videos released
1996–1999
An unidentified Russian soldier beheaded in 1996 in Chechnya by resistance fighters during the First Chechen war. One officer and five enlisted men in the Russian military were decapitated on film during the Tukhchar massacre on September 5, 1999.
2002
Daniel Pearl, U.S. citizen, beheaded February 1, 2002, in Pakistan by al-Qaeda jihadists A video (published in July 2002 by the FSB) shows a woman being beheaded by alleged henchmen of Chechen commander Movsar Barayev
2004
Nick Berg, U.S. citizen, beheaded May 7, 2004, in Iraq by Muntada al-Ansar jihadists Paul Marshall Johnson, Jr., U.S. citizen, beheaded in June 2004 in Saudi Arabia by al-Qaeda jihadists Kim Sun-il, South Korean citizen, beheaded in June 2004 in Iraq by jihadists of Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (JTJ) Georgi Lazov, Bulgarian citizen, beheaded in July 2004 in Iraq by JTJ jihadists Mohammed Mutawalli, Egyptian citizen, beheaded in August 2004 in Iraq by JTJ jihadists One Nepali citizen, beheaded in August 2004 in Iraq by JTJ jihadists Eugene Armstrong, U.S. citizen, beheaded in September 2004 in Iraq by JTJ jihadists Jack Hensley, U.S. citizen, beheaded in September 2004 in Iraq by JTJ jihadists Kenneth Bigley, British citizen, beheaded on October 7, 2004 in Iraq by JTJ jihadists Shosei Koda, Japanese citizen, beheaded on October 29, 2004, in Iraq by jihadists of al-Qaeda in Iraq
2005–2013
Shamil Odamanov, Russian citizen of Dagestani descent. Odamanov was beheaded in 2007 by Russian neo-Nazis. Nikolay Melnik, Kazakhstani citizen, beheaded July 18, 2008, in Podyachevo, Russia by his fellow neo-Nazi Konstantin Nikiforenko of the NSO-North Piotr Stańczak, Polish citizen, beheaded on February 7, 2009, in Pakistan by Tehreek-e-Taliban jihadists