World IN BRIEF : MALI : Children Tortured, Amnesty Group Says

Amnesty International said in London that the government of Mali has tortured, ill-treated and illegally detained political prisoners, including children. It said youngsters under 12 have been severely beaten and deprived of water and food since mass arrests were made on Jan. 18 after riots in Bamako, the West African nation’s capital. The rioters were protesting the one-party government of Gen. Moussa Traore’s Democratic Union of Malian People, which has ruled the country for 22 years. Amnesty International said that about 200 men, women and children were held in a large cell in Bamako without toilets and were fed only bread and water.