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A screen capture of the footage which shows
villagers
sitting in lines in front of police officers
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Myanmar detains police officers over Rohingya
beating video
Myanmar has detained several police over a video that
appears to show officers beating members of the Muslim Rohingya minority during
a security operation.
The government said the incident, filmed by a police
officer, happened in restive Rakhine state in November.
The office of Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi
named four officers who took part in the operation.
They include Zaw Myo Htike, who can be seen smoking as he
films the video.
"Those who [were] initially identified were
detained," Ms Suu Kyi's office said in a statement. "Further
investigations are being carried out to expose other police officers who beat
villagers in the operation."
There have been repeated allegations of abuses against the
minority in Rakhine since a military counter-insurgency campaign was launched
there in October.
Some have even said the state's actions amount
to ethnic cleansing, and Ms Suu Kyi, a Nobel laureate, has faced
international criticism.
Read here: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-38470232
The admission that security forces may have carried out
abuses is an unusual development, as Burmese leaders have previously insisted
they are following the rule of law.
Rakhine state is closed to journalists and investigators,
making it difficult to independently verify the allegations.
Scores of people have been killed in the recent military
operation, launched after armed militants attacked border posts near Maungdaw
on 9 October, killing nine policemen.
The government said the footage was filmed in November as
police conducted a "clearance operation" in Maungdaw after two police
officers were shot, one fatally.
The video shows a large group of villagers sitting in lines
in front of police officers. One officer can be seen beating a man, while
another kicks him in the face. Other men are then also kicked or hit.
The State Counsellor's Office Information Committee said
action would be taken against officers who violated police force rules.
Who are the Rohingya?
The estimated one million Muslim Rohingya are seen by many
in mainly Buddhist Myanmar as illegal migrants from Bangladesh. They are denied
citizenship by the government despite tracing their ancestry back generations.
Communal violence in Rakhine state in 2012 left scores dead
and displaced more than 100,000 people, with many Rohingya still remaining in
decrepit camps.
They face widespread discrimination and mistreatment.
Hundreds of thousands of undocumented Rohingya are estimated
to live in Bangladesh, having fled Myanmar over decades.
Bangladesh says around 50,000 Rohingya have crossed its
border over the past two months.
The situation has drawn global condemnation. Over a dozen
Nobel laureates wrote to the UN Security Council last week demanding action to
stop the "human tragedy amounting to ethnic cleansing and crimes against
humanity" in northern Rakhine.
'A revealing glimpse' - Jonah Fisher, BBC
Myanmar correspondent
This is a revealing glimpse into the way security forces are
operating in Rakhine.
It's just one incident, but it supports Rohingya claims that
they are being abused and collectively punished by the military.
For the last three months there has been a steady flow of
video footage from northern Rakhine. Rohingya men and women have alleged, rape,
massacres and the burning and looting of villages at the hands of the military.
The response of Aung San Suu Kyi's government has been
unequivocal. The footage has been denounced as "fake news", while at
the same time journalists and aid workers have been prevented from seeing for
themselves.
This video should make uncomfortable viewing for Ms Suu Kyi.
Official figures show that at least six Rohingya have died in custody in the
last three months. Is she asking why?