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YouTube footage purportedly showed an officer
kicking a
Rohingya in the face
[Mir Ahmed A.B Siddiquee/YouTube]
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Police to investigate abuse of Rohingya caught
on video
Selfie-style video filmed by border guard police
shows officers kicking, punching and slapping Rohingya men.
Myanmar authorities opened an investigation into the abuse
of Rohingya Muslims by security forces after a video showing police officers
beating and kicking villagers went viral over the weekend, state media
reported.
The selfie-style film was shot by a member of the border
guard police on November 5 during "clearance operations" in Kotankauk
village, northern Rakhine state, the state counsellor's office said in a press
release cited in state media.
Three officers responsible for beating villagers were
identified and more were under investigation, the press release said.
READ MORE:
Who are the Rohingya? http://aje.io/pbul
"Now, according to the initial reports, three police
officers were detained," Zaw Htay, chief government spokesperson, told DPA
news agency on Monday. "We have rules and regulations for police ... They
will be punished according to that police law."
The video, which contains
images some viewers, may find distressing, shows police hitting a young boy
around the head as he walks to where dozens of villagers are lined up in rows
seated on the ground, hands behind their heads.
The video: https://youtu.be/OvxgnJfFzXo
Three officers in uniform then start attacking one of the
sitting men, beating him with a stick and kicking him repeatedly in the face.
A Rohingya activist contacted by AFP news agency said the
footage had been verified by a refugee from the nearby camp, Shilkhali.
Myanmar security forces have been accused of extreme
violence during security sweeps of villages throughout northern Rakhine, near
the country's western border, following deadly attacks on police in October.
Thousands of Rohingya have since fled across the border into
Bangladesh.
Source: http://aje.io/rkk5