Accessibility links

Breaking News

Myanmar to Probe Video That Appears to Show Soldiers Beating People


FILE - Myanmar army soldiers carrying weapons patrol on a road as part of operations against ethnic rebels, in Kokang, northeastern Shan State, more than 800 kilometers (500 miles) northeast of Yangon, Feb. 17, 2015.
FILE - Myanmar army soldiers carrying weapons patrol on a road as part of operations against ethnic rebels, in Kokang, northeastern Shan State, more than 800 kilometers (500 miles) northeast of Yangon, Feb. 17, 2015.

Authorities in Myanmar will investigate a video that appears to show members of the armed forces beating, kicking and violently interrogating several people, the government said on Wednesday.

Human rights advocates urged the government of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi to investigate after the footage, showing soldiers kicking men in the face as well as holding a machete to a man's throat, went viral over the weekend.

Myanmar's armed forces have often been accused of abuses by human rights groups and Western governments during decades of conflict with myriad ethnic armed groups.

The clip surfaced on social media as some of Myanmar's armed rebel groups gathered last week in the capital, Naypyitaw, for peace talks with the military and Suu Kyi, following her tough first year in power that saw the worst rebel fighting in years.

"We have found a 17-minute-long video on social media showing four civilians mistreated by some soldiers. International human rights organizations released statements about that on May 28," Suu Kyi's office said in a statement.

"The government will now necessarily investigate the violations according to the current rules and regulations."

Some of the handcuffed men were questioned whether they belonged to the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), an ethnic armed group based in Myanmar's eastern Shan State which recently clashed with the military.

Reuters could not independently verify the identity of the people involved in the video. It was not clear when and where it was taken.

A coalition of four rebel groups comprising some of Myanmar's most powerful militias, including the TNLA, staged attacks on security forces in northern Myanmar in November.

Myanmar this year investigated policemen after footage of villagers being treated violently emerged online, amid tension over a government crackdown on suspected insurgents.

  • 16x9 Image

    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

XS
SM
MD
LG