The Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on the Malian government to investigate the death of at least 22 men whose remains were found days after the country’s military arrested them.

According to HRW, the incident occurred in the town of Diafarabé, where Malian soldiers had taken the men into custody on May 12, 2025, only for their bodies to be discovered three days later in a shallow mass grave with their throats slit in what appeared to be extrajudicial killings.

In a statement on Tuesday, HRW noted that the bodies of the men were discovered by residents of the town, with at least five of them confirming that they witnessed the arrest of the men by military personnel in a series of phone interviews with the non-governmental organisation.

One man who was arrested but survived the executions also confirmed the incident to HRW. The witnesses stated that arrests took place between 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. during a military operation in Diafarabé and identified the victims as members of the Fulani tribe.

“Armed soldiers wearing Malian military uniforms entered the market on foot and started arresting Fulani traders,” a 53-year-old trader said. “They tied their hands behind their back before they took them to the river and blindfolded them.”

However, the soldiers did not come back with the men they had arrested when they went to the town around 2:00 p.m. on the same day, sparking protests in front of the Diafarabé military base the following day. Demonstrators demanded information on the whereabouts of the victims.

The protests persisted for days until May 15 when the military finally agreed to escort a delegation of 19 people to the site the men were taken to across the Niger River, where the remains of the men were later found.

“We found about 22 bodies in two poorly dug mass graves,” said a man whose father was among those killed and went to the location of the killings with soldiers.

He added, “All the men had their throats slashed, some appeared almost decapitated. It was so horrible that even a military commander who was accompanying us had to sit down so as not to faint.”

Meanwhile, the Malian military announced last week that it had commenced investigations into the incident.