Kyrgyz Prison Officials Rebuff Calls For Examination Of Hunger-Striking Activists

Kyrgyz prison officials rejected calls to hospitalize 19 hunger-striking activists or allow outside doctors to examine them. The activists are protesting their arrests in October for challenging a controversial border deal with Uzbekistan. A government rights official, Atyr Abdrakhmatova, said on December 19 the activists' condition had "dramatically worsened" and called for an outside commission to examine them. But the Penitentiary Service denied the assertion. In all, 26 persons were arrested for protesting a border agreement that handed a disputed water reservoir to Uzbekistan. The deal sparked anger from many Kyrgyz. To read the original story from RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, click here.