1,300 Kyrgyz prisoners sew their mouths shut in protest at poor jail conditions



More than 1,300 Kyrgyz prisoners have sewn their mouths shut in a widespread protest against poor living conditions, it has been reported.

Thousands of inmates at jails across Kyrgyzstan have staged hunger strikes as they demand more basic liberties.

The extreme reaction came after prison guards attempted to force-feed them and follows a riot last week in which at least one person was killed.

Defiant: A prisoner on hunger strike has his mouth sewn shut with wire so he can only consume liquids at a prison in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

A human rights official told the BBC: 'They are demanding that state prison authorities and guards stop beatings.

'They are worried that if they stop their hunger strike they will be beaten again.'

Authorities claim the protests have been orchestrated by outside criminal gangs opposed to tighter regulations inside prison.

The prisoners have sewn the corners of their mouths closed so they are only able to consume liquids and are demanding more freedom of movement in jail.

Squalid: A prisoner peers through the hatch in his cell door in the penitentiary in Osh, Kyrgyzstan. Thousands have been staging hunger strikes over the conditions inside prisons

Sheishenbek Baizakov, head of the penitentiary services, said they would not give in to prisoners' demands.

He said they would no longer 'be able to make fools of the guards' and added: 'Let them all sew shut their mouths.'

Families of those incarcerated have staged protests outside the Kyrgyz parliament buildings in the capital Bishkek for the last two weeks.

The former Soviet nation, home to 5.5million people, has notoriously overcrowded jails which are rife with disease.

It is home to a U.S. air base crucial for operations in nearby Afghanistan.



The Supreme Court 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 around 15 per cent of the population, but are the dominant group in the south of the country.