Inmates in the Kyrgyz prison system sewed their mouths shut after guards tried to force-feed them to break a hunger strike, a broadcaster reports.

Thousands of inmates at penitentiaries in Kyrgyzstan demonstrated last week for more basic liberties. The protests, reports Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, were rumored to have been coordinated by outside criminal groups.

More than 400 inmates conducting a hunger strike sewed their mouths shut after prison guards tried to force-feed them, RFE/RL notes.

Prison authorities said they wouldn't give in to protesters' demands, however. It was unclear what lead to the demonstrations, though Human Rights Watch had said the Kyrgyz justice system was flawed.

The Supreme Court in Kyrgyzstan last year upheld guilty verdicts for eight ethnic Uzbeks accused of inciting ethnic hatred and murder in the wake of an April 2010 coup.

Uzbeks make up about 15 percent of the Kyrgyz population but are the dominant group in the south of the country.

An April 2010 coup led former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev to flee to Belarus. Following the coup, at least 470 people were killed in ethnic conflicts near Osh and Jalal Abad. (UPI)