According to Human Rights Watch: "Human Rights Watch interviewed 34 men who had been detained by the security forces in the course of operations in northern and central Mali from December 2014 to late February 2015. The majority were ethnic Peuhl detained in central Mali in reaction to recent attacks there. The detainees described numerous incidents of mistreatment including physical and psychological abuse – notably death threats, torture, and denial of food, water, and medical care. The most frequent and serious abuse was meted out by army soldiers, and occurred in the first few days after they were detained. Most detainees said the abuse stopped after they were handed over to gendarmes. [...] Two Tuareg men, ages 25 and 27, described being detained in a private house in Gao in mid-February by the pro-government Self-Defence Group of Imrad Touareg and Allies (Le Groupe autodéfense touareg Imghad et allies, GATIA) militia, who accused them of selling ammunition to armed groups in the north. The Tuareg men said the militiamen stole a cell phone and money before handing them over to soldiers the detainees identified as elite Red Berets. They said the soldiers severely mistreated them overnight inside the Gao military base of Camp Firoun, then handed them over to gendarmes. The men’s hands had deep scars on the wrists from the tight cords, and were still swollen when Human Rights Watch interviewed them two weeks later. One of the men said: The soldiers bound our hands and feet tightly behind our backs – hogtied us – with electric wire, so tightly it cut deep through our skin. They left us on the floor in a room like this from 9 p.m. until 9 a.m. the next morning. They beat and kicked us. We cried out for water to drink but instead they threw water over us saying, “The mosquitos will eat you nicely tonight.” ^[+]