The Mexican government announced it arrested seven soldiers and their commanding officer in connection with the shooting death of 22 suspected drug cartel members back in June. Though the government had initially claimed the soldiers did nothing wrong, the men are now in custody.

The eight men were charged with military disobedience and breach of duty, according to the BBC. Their arrests came about after a witness said the 22 suspected members of La Familia Michoacana drug cartel were shot in cold blood by the Mexican troops.

The incident took place on June 30 in Tlatlaya and was considered at the time to be the one of the most violent altercations between security forces and drug cartels since President Enrique Pena Nieto assumed office in 2012.

Only one of the Mexican soldiers was wounded in the alleged gunfight, and many of the drug cartel members appeared to have been shot in the chest, raising concerns surrounding their deaths.

Human Rights Watch, which monitors human rights issues around the world, released a statement in August asking the Mexican government to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into the drug cartel members' deaths.

"It's been two months since soldiers killed 22 civilians in Tlatlaya, and there are more questions than answers about what really took place that day," said José Miguel Vivanco, the Americas director at Human Rights Watch at the time. "A thorough, objective, and independent investigation that examines whether the soldiers acted lawfully, and assesses evidence of state misconduct is needed and required by law."

The statement explained that the Defense Ministry defended the soldiers' actions and other government officials followed suit; however, The Associated Press reporter who visited the area in July 8 found little evidence of fighting, except for a few bullet holes.

A delegation sent by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) came to a similar conclusion, finding little evidence of sustained firefight as argued by the government.

The Latin America edition of Esquire magazine printed an interview a week before the arrests in which a witness claimed only one cartel member died in the firefight, according to the AFP, and the rest were executed.

The U.S. government has called for a civilian investigation, and the Mexican federal attorney general has begun looking into the matter.