COPENHAGEN, 26 January 2012 – Matteo Mecacci, Chair of the OSCE PA human rights committee today called for respect of human rights and easing of conditions in Kyrgyzstan prisons after the government reported 80 per cent of the country's prisoners are on a hunger strike.

More than 400 detainees in four correctional facilities in Kyrgyzstan are reported to have sewn their mouths shut as part of a protest demanding improved prison conditions.

The inmates' actions follow the shutting down of the last common cell, in which inhabitants had the freedom to move around in day and night.

"Human rights do not stop at the prison gate," said Mecacci, Chair of the OSCE PA Committee on Human Rights, Democracy and Humanitarian Questions. "Basic rights must still be respected, including in pre-trial and detention facilities. I hope the authorities will reconsider the closure of common cells so prisoners are assured some freedom of movement during their incarceration."

In the past week, 13 of 17 prison colonies or detention centres have been on hunger strikes, according to state penitentiary service officials. Of 1,300 prisoners, the government reports only 260 are accepting food.

The Kyrgyz Republic's human rights ombudsman has called for the situation to be "urgently solved."