Four police officers have been detained after footage showing three of them beating Rohingya villagers went viral over the weekend. The fourth detained officer filmed the beatings, which took place on November 5 in Koe Tan Kauk Village, Rathedaung Township, Rakhine State.
The State Counsellor Office, headed by Aung San Suu Kyi, announced that the head of the unit carrying out the operation, Police Major Htun Naing, and officers Tay Zar Lin, Pyae Phyo Thwin and Zaw Myo Htike—who shot the video—have been detained and will be punished.
The government statement also said it is working to identify and discipline other police officers in the video.
On Sunday, President’s Office spokesperson Zay Htay told reporters that the government has “time and again stressed the need to be careful with each and every action, to make sure there is no violation of human rights and to act in line with the law”, reported The Irrawaddy.
Several videos and images have emerged depicting the brutal treatment of Rohingya civilians at the hands of Myanmar security forces, but this is the first time the government has acknowledged any human rights violations since clearance operations began on October 9.
“Unfortunately the scene this video depicts isn’t unique or an isolated event,” Matthew Smith, chief executive of Fortify Rights, told AFP.
Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch told CNN: “It’s telling that these local officers apparently felt so at ease in what they were doing that they had no hesitation in filming it.”
“If the police feel so immune that they film themselves inflicting such brutal beatings, one wonders what other horrors might be taking place off camera that they were not willing to record.”
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