MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico's National Human Rights Commission has determined that soldiers killed six civilians without justification in a 2012 incident in the southern state of Guerrero.

The governmental commission says a group of about 20 soldiers pulled the two minors and four adults out of a party. They then allegedly took the victims to a field and shot them.

The army said at the time that the deaths were the result of a confrontation. But the commission found that the victims were unarmed and in custody and thus "did not represent a threat to the military personnel."

The commission recommended the army pay damages to the victims' families in its finding issued Monday.