Convicts in southern prison protest against abuse of their rights

A group of prisoners and detainees revolted on Tuesday evening in a temporary detention facility (TDF) in the southern city of Osh, Ziaydin Jamaldinov, a representative of the Kyrgyz Ombudsman, told IRIN on Thursday after he had visited the jail together with the head of a local human rights protection organisation. Jamaldinov said that almost 20 prisoners, including four teenagers, harmed themselves, some seriously, in protest against use of violence in the prison. The victims were given medical aid and they were now being kept in their cells, he added. "Inhabitants of the jail said that constant oppression on the part of the jailers forced them to make such a protest; they complained of bad medical services and a lack of basic living conditions. All this resulted in the revolt," Sadikjan Makhmudov, director of the Osh-based Luch Solomona rights group, told IRIN. The entire prison population, numbering some 250 people, have also gone on a hunger strike in response to the use of harsh measures at the facility, he noted. Osh TDF is one of the oldest penitentiary establishments in the country. People under investigation and those sentenced to short imprisonment are kept there, along with those on their way to correctional facilities. In September, Luch Solomona NGO, with assistance from international organisations such as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), monitored prison conditions in the jail. They found overcrowding in cells - almost two prisoners to one place - along with an extremely high prevalence of tuberculosis, HIV and scabies. There was also a serious shortage of medicine and poor nourishment. The NGO said that the basic rights of prisoners and detainees were being infringed, noting that rights were violated by both correction officers and police officers in charge of interrogation. Samidin Satarov, chief of the investigative police department, told IRIN that the incident was an internal matter. According to prison officials, the protest was provoked by one of the informal leaders in the jail after the authorities refused him permission to see a visitor. Law enforcement officials blame social problems in the penitentiary facility on extremely poor government financing. "Look how I am dressed," said one of the senior guards, showing his greasy, patched jacket. Meanwhile, local NGOs, who have been monitoring the situation in penitentiary facilities of southern Kyrgyzstan for several years, say that serious changes are needed to the system.