A leading human rights group is urging Mali's government to release five boys held by the military for about seven months.
Amnesty International issued the call after a delegation led by the group's secretary general, Salil Shetty, met with the teenagers at a military detention center in Mali's capital, Bamako.
The rights group said the detainees are 15 to 17 years old.
In a statement, Shetty said the delegation was "horrified" to see the "traumatized" teenagers held in poor conditions. She called the detainment a violation of national and international law.
Amnesty said one of the five detainees is a child soldier who joined an al-Qaida-linked extremist organization, the Movement for Oneness and Jihad. The rights group said the four other teenagers were arrested because of their suspected ties to armed groups.
Amnesty International issued the call after a delegation led by the group's secretary general, Salil Shetty, met with the teenagers at a military detention center in Mali's capital, Bamako.
The rights group said the detainees are 15 to 17 years old.
In a statement, Shetty said the delegation was "horrified" to see the "traumatized" teenagers held in poor conditions. She called the detainment a violation of national and international law.
Amnesty said one of the five detainees is a child soldier who joined an al-Qaida-linked extremist organization, the Movement for Oneness and Jihad. The rights group said the four other teenagers were arrested because of their suspected ties to armed groups.