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Kyrgyz inmates sew mouths shut

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Published : Jan. 27, 2012 - 14:53

 Inmates in the Kyrgyz prison system sewed their mouths shut after guards tried to force-feed them to break a hunger strike, a broadcaster reports.

 


A prisoner on a hunger strike has his mouth sewn with a wire at a prison in Bishkek January 24, 2012. More than 1,000 inmates throughout Kyrgyzstan have taken part in protests in what local media reported as a response to authorities cutting privileges for criminal offenders with prominence. Picture taken January 24, 2012. (REUTERS)



Thousands of inmates at penitentiaries in Kyrgyzstan demonstrated last week for more basic liberties. The protests, reports Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, were rumored to have been coordinated by outside criminal groups.

More than 400 inmates conducting a hunger strike sewed their mouths shut after prison guards tried to force-feed them, RFE/RL notes.

Prison authorities said they wouldn't give in to protesters' demands, however. It was unclear what lead to the demonstrations, though Human Rights Watch had said the Kyrgyz justice system was flawed.

The Supreme Court in Kyrgyzstan last year upheld guilty verdicts for eight ethnic Uzbeks accused of inciting ethnic hatred and murder in the wake of an April 2010 coup.

Uzbeks make up about 15 percent of the Kyrgyz population but are the dominant group in the south of the country.

An April 2010 coup led former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev to flee to Belarus. Following the coup, at least 470 people were killed in ethnic conflicts near Osh and Jalal Abad. (UPI)

 



키르기스 1천여 재소자, 입 꿰매고 단식 농성

키르기스스탄에서 교도소 당국의 처우에 항 의하며 1천 300여 명의 재소자들이 자신들의 입을 꿰매고 단식 농성중이라고 dpa 통 신이 26일 보도했다.

통신에 따르면 인권단체 옴부즈만인 투르순벡 아쿤은 전국 교도소에서 6천명 이 상이 식사를 거부하고 있으며 일부는 건강이 악화된 상태라고 전했다.

이번 단식 농성은 경비원들이 재소자들을 공동 감방에서 독방으로 옮기는 과정에서 16명이 사망한 사건이 발생한 후 24일부터 수도인 비슈케크에 있는  제1교도소 를 중심으로 시작됐다.

재소자 가운데 갱 두목들은 키르기스 전 지역에 있는 재소자들에게 공동 감방을 폐지하는 계획을 취소하고 휴대전화와 고참 재소자들로부터 받은 개인 사물을 지닐 수 있도록 당국에 압력을 가하기 위해 단식농성을 계속 하라고 지시했다고 현지 아키뉴스 통신이 보도했다.

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