from ITN
An Australian police force has apologised after officers made a drunk Aboriginal man sing and dance.
The officers filmed the man lying on the ground intoxicated in the outback town of Katherine before two officers told him to begin singing Rivers of Babylon, dragged him to his feet to dance and then made him sing Happy Birthday.
One laughing officer filmed the 2006 incident, shots of which were posted on the video sharing website YouTube, before turning the camera on to himself and uttering several obscenities.
Northern Territory police issued a statement on Tuesday saying an internal investigation had found the treatment of the man, named only as "Chappy", to be "humiliating and demeaning".
The officer who filmed the event has been reprimanded and the police have tried to have the clip, which some viewers called "disgusting" and "racist", removed without success, the force added.
Northern Territory Government minister Rob Knight said: "It's clearly unacceptable and something that we cannot tolerate here in the Territory."
Australia's 460,000 Aborigines make up about 2 per cent of the population.
They experience higher rates of unemployment, substance abuse and domestic violence, and have a life expectancy 17 years shorter than other Australians.
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