The RUC Chief Constable, Mr Ronnie Flanagan, has called in the Independent Commission for Police Complaints to investigate disturbances in north Belfast last Tuesday night during which RUC officers were accused of assault.
A number of public complaints were made following the incidents on the Whitewell Road during which a local SDLP councillor, Mr Martin Morgan, sustained a broken arm and bruising. He and others complained they needed hospital treatment after they were allegedly beaten up by the officers.
The ICPC has allocated two of its members to direct and supervise the RUC inquiry into the complaints.
"We will ensure that this investigation will be thorough and embrace all relevant aspects of conduct," the ICPC chairman, Mr Paul Donnelly, said.
Mr Morgan said he is taking legal action against the RUC over his injuries. He called on officers involved to be suspended, and criminal action taken against them.
Because of continuing sectarian violence it is understood a new "peace line" is to be constructed in the Whitewell Road area of north Belfast.
The Labour Party leader has called on the Taoiseach to take up the alleged beating of Mr Morgan with the British government. Mr Ruairi Quinn last night stated that Mr Morgan was "savagely beaten" by the RUC and said the case merited intervention by the Taoiseach. "There is a long-standing tradition of intervention by public representatives in disputes between local communities and the RUC," he said.
"I am calling on the Taoiseach to take the matter up with the Prime Minister. Confidence in policing in Northern Ireland is one of the most difficult hurdles facing those involved in the all-party talks. Incidents of this kind, and the inadequate RUC response to them, does nothing to encourage confidence in the police, particularly among nationalists."
