Babylon Movement

The Babylon Movement (Arabic: حركة بابليون‎) is an Chaldean Catholic political party situated in Iraq. Founded in 2014, it is the political wing of the Babylon Brigade, a nominally Christian militia that was formed as part of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces. Rayan al-Kildani, a Chaldean Catholic Assyrian with close ties to the Badr Organization and IRGC,[1] heads both the party and militia. On July 18, 2019, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned Rayan based on charges of corruption and human rights abuses.[2][3][4]

Babylon Brigade
كتائب بابليون
LeadersRayan al-Kildani
Allegiance Iraq
Group(s)
  • 50th Brigade[5]
Size1,000+[6]
Part of Popular Mobilization Forces
Allies
Opponents Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
Battles and warsIraqi Civil War (2014–2017)
Babylon Movement
HeadquartersIraq
Military wingBabylon Brigade
ReligionChristian
Council of Representatives
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History

The Babylon Movement entered the Iraqi parliamentary election in 2014 and 2018 as a movement claiming to be a representative of Iraq's Christian community. With a few thousand votes, Christians in Iraq considered this list as strange and intrusive and its sudden appearance without any history or previous achievements.[9][10]

Relations with the Chaldean Catholic Church

The Chaldean Catholic Church issued a statement confirming that it has nothing to do with the Babylon Brigades, nor its leader, Rayan Al-Kaldani, nor does it represent them, and that its official representatives are members of the Iraqi Parliament only.[11][12] It was also denied by Christian members of the Iraqi Parliament, including Imad Youkhana and Yonadam Kanna, where the representatives stated that the Babylon Brigades and their leader do not represent Christians, and the battalions led by him represent him personally, and he is far from Christianity, completely against it, and does not represent it.[13][14][15]

Sanctions

On 18 July 2019, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned the leader of the Babylon Brigades militia, Rayan Al-Kaldani, for committing grave human rights violations.[2][3][4][16]

References
  1. "A Mostly Non-Christian Militia Won 2 Of Iraqi Christians' Parliamentary Seats". HuffPost. 23 May 2018. Retrieved 30 Aug 2019.
  2. Wong, Edward (18 July 2019). "U.S. Imposes Sanctions on Iraqi Militia Leaders and Ex-Governors". New York Times. Retrieved 30 Aug 2019.
  3. U.S. Dept. of Treasury press release.
  4. , alghadeer.
  5. Al-Tamimi, Aymenn Jawad (October 31, 2017). "Hashd Brigade Numbers Index". Rubin Center. Archived from the original on March 3, 2018. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
  6. Kaplan, Michael (July 13, 2015). "In Iraq, Christian Militia Battles Islamic State Militants: 'ISIS Terrorists Are Our Enemy'". IB Times. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
  7. "الهديل - الهديل- تعرّف على أبرز فصائل الحشد الشّعبي... هذا هو تعدادها وأبرز قادتها".
  8. Bennett-Jones, Owen (April 11, 2016). "The Christian militia fighting IS". BBC News. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
  9. https://web.archive.org/web/20190808111311/http://www.albadeeliraq.com:80/node/1236
  10. "النتائج الاولية المتوقعة لقوائم كوتا شعبنا الستة في انتخابات برلمان العراق". Archived from the original on 2018-10-17.
  11. بيان البطريركية الكلدانية. Archived 9 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  12. قناة عشتار الفضائية. Archived 25 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  13. مقابلة النائب يونادم مع موقع الحركة الديمقراطية الاشورية. Archived 4 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine
  14. مقابلة النائب يونادم كنا على قناة الشرقية نيوز. Archived 2020-03-14 at the Wayback Machine
  15. وكالة انباء براثا. Archived 11 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  16. "U.S. imposes sanctions on four Iraqis over human rights and corruption". Reuters. July 18, 2019.
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