Prisoners in Bujumbura's central jail on strike

At least 2,500 inmates at Mpimba, Bujumbura's central prison, have gone on strike protesting poor conditions, the director of International Human Rights Law Group in Bujumbura, Miriam Ghalmi, told IRIN on Wednesday. Originally the strike began on 10 December 2001 as a protest against a ban on sugar in the jail, and involved only a small number of "elite" inmates. However, the action has escalated and now appears to involve all the inmates, Ghalmi said. A representative from the Association for the Protection of the Human Rights of Detained Persons, Pierre-Claver Mbonimpa, told IRIN that the main reasons for the current strike included the suspension of special leave for family reasons, the slow pace of the judicial process, and lack of prisoner care during illness. As of 31 December, there were 2,516 prisoners in a facility meant for 800 people, he added. "Yesterday, 400 soldiers entered the prison, using tear gas against the prisoners," he said. "They took away three alleged ringleaders, one of whom was transferred to a prison in Kayanza, another to Rumonge, while the whereabouts of the third are not known. Today the soldiers came again, looking for a fourth ringleader, but he has hidden himself among the prisoners." The inmates had torn down all the doors in the prison and, in theory, could come and go as they pleased, he said. But they remained unable to escape, as the prison was surrounded by soldiers. The prisoners were demanding that the justice minister negotiate with them, he said. A representative from the ministry told IRIN on Wednesday that his colleagues were analysing the situation and that representatives from the ministry would may meet the prisoners.