YANGON: Myanmar鈥檚 military has conceded its troops abused prisoners in Rakhine State after a video of soldiers battering blindfolded detainees spread on social media 鈥� a rare admission of wrongdoing by a force often accused of acting with impunity.
The video, which emerged on Sunday, shows plain-clothed men punching and kicking the heads of handcuffed and blindfolded detainees.
The five detainees had been arrested on suspicion of being Arakan Army (AA) insurgents and were being transferred to Rakhine state capital Sittwe by boat on April 21 when the incident occurred, according to the army chief鈥檚 office website.
Myanmar鈥檚 armed forces are locked in an increasingly brutal war with the rebels, who are fighting for more autonomy for ethnic Rakhine Buddhists.
Some security force members interrogated the prisoners in a way 鈥渘ot in accordance with the law鈥� and action would be taken against those responsible, the statement said, without giving details on what punishments await.
The video, a rare window into the operations of an army routinely accused of abuses, was shared tens of thousands of times, splitting opinion between those outraged and people defending the soldiers.
The families of the arrested men deny they have any links to the AA.
鈥淗e just works in a rice shop. He doesn鈥檛 know anything about the AA,鈥� Ni Ni, the mother of 24-year-old detainee Nyi Aung, said by phone.
The video shows Nyi Aung鈥檚 interrogator yanking his head back by the hair as he punches him in the face, before another guard kicks him in the head.
Scores have been killed, hundreds wounded and some 150,000 people have fled their homes since fighting erupted in January last year.
UN rights expert Yanghee Lee last month warned Myanmar鈥檚 military should be investigated for possible 鈥渨ar crimes and crimes against humanity鈥� in the conflict.
Lee accused the military of disappearing, torturing and killing dozens of AA suspects, as well as blocking aid and stopping injured civilians from reaching hospitals.
Myanmar has denied the allegations, exchanging accusations of abuse with the AA.
It is impossible to verify the competing claims in northern Rakhine, which is under an Internet blackout and off-limits to journalists.
The government has also officially branded the AA a 鈥渢errorist organization,鈥� meaning anyone who contacts them for comment could be charged under Myanmar鈥檚 terrorism laws.
Human Rights Watch deputy Asia director Phil Robertson called for the military鈥檚 鈥渋mpunity鈥� to be the focus of a UN Security Council discussion on Myanmar this week.
Myanmar faces charges of genocide at the UN鈥檚 top court, a case brought after some 740,000 Rohingya Muslims fled to Bangladesh in a 2017 bloody military crackdown in Rakhine.
The country denies the charges.
Seven soldiers sentenced for killing a group of Rohingya were freed from jail a year ago despite serving less time than two reporters imprisoned for exposing the massacre.