Kyrgyzstan Prisoners Sew Mouths Shut in Protest
Over 1,000 prison inmates in Kyrgyzstan have sewn their mouths shut in an effort to bring attention to what they say are poor prison conditions.
The latest act of protest follows a hunger strike that began Jan. 17, according to State Corrections Service chief Sheishenbek Baizakov. Baizakov said inmates in two different jails joined together in sewing their mouths shut.
"Today, 260 people are eating in pre-trial detention center No. 1. But 385 people have sewn their lips," Baizakov told reporters Tuesday. "They were joined by 61 inhabitants of facility No. 8."
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While the State Corrections Service chief said inmates wanted more freedom inside of the jails, he also said it is a notion that may never happen.
"This will never happen," Baizakov said in a Times Live report. "Let them all sew their mouths shut."
Reuters reports that the initial hunger strike involved most of Kyrgyzstan's 7,500 prisoners spread across three facilities. The hunger strike reportedly began after a special forces team raided the jail in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan.
The country is home to both U.S. and Russian military air bases, but it an impoverished nation with 5.5. million people. Kyrgyzstan has suffered turbulent times with an overthrown president and violence between various ethnic groups inhabiting the land.
The special forces prison raids reportedly stemmed from some prisoners in the country cutting their bodies and damaging their cells. Reuters reports that prison guards were forced to end illegal smuggling in the prison, which led to protests among the inmates.
After a Reuters camera man visited one of the prisons, the news agency reported that some officers were attempting to treat inmates with respect.
"We are going to treat you with respect," the officer said in a Reuters report.
Despite the ongoing protests, a sub-commander in the Interior Ministry's security service, Mars Jusupbekov, said conditions have been improving. Some prisoners who sewed their mouths shut were requesting medical help to undo the damage.
Many have also decided to end their hunger strike and are starting to accept food.
"Yesterday, 300 prisoners took food,"Jusupbekov said in a Reuters report Friday. "Today it was 320."
