Prison Riots Colombia

Scores of hostages left a jail in southwest Colombia, 24 hours after they were seized by convicts demanding sweeping improvements in prison conditions, police said. At least 120 women and children who had been visiting inmates when the protest flared were released from the San Isidro prison in the city of Popayan, police said. The 1,100 inmates took control of the main compound at San Isidro on Sunday, taking 585 visitors hostage.

Rioting that broke out after an inmate's mutilated body was found stuffed in a prison sewer pipe led to 26 deaths before the unrest ended Friday, the worst bloodletting in Colombia's violent prison system. The Modelo federal prison melee between paramilitary fighters and common criminals marked the collapse of a nonviolence pact signed by inmates at the facility in Bogota, the capital, two months ago.

A third Colombian prison fell under control of rebellious inmates amid a growing wave of protests against overcrowding and poor living conditions that began with the killing of four guards last week. The latest riot occurred in the Modelo prison in Bucaramanga, the site of frequent clashes between the military and leftist rebels. The riot followed last week's bloody uprising at the main jail in Valledupar, where four guards were killed.

Scores of hostages left a jail in southwest Colombia, 24 hours after they were seized by convicts demanding sweeping improvements in prison conditions, police said. At least 120 women and children who had been visiting inmates when the protest flared were released from the San Isidro prison in the city of Popayan, police said. The 1,100 inmates took control of the main compound at San Isidro on Sunday, taking 585 visitors hostage.

Hundreds of prisoners rioted in a jail in southwestern Colombia on Sunday and took at least 585 visitors, mostly women, hostage, a police official said. Police officers and army troops surrounded the San Isidro jail in the city of Popayan, capital of Cauca province, but were ordered not to force their way in, a police spokesman said.

Rioting that broke out after an inmate's mutilated body was found stuffed in a prison sewer pipe led to 26 deaths before the unrest ended Friday, the worst bloodletting in Colombia's violent prison system. The Modelo federal prison melee between paramilitary fighters and common criminals marked the collapse of a nonviolence pact signed by inmates at the facility in Bogota, the capital, two months ago.

Hundreds of prisoners rioted in a jail in southwestern Colombia on Sunday and took at least 585 visitors, mostly women, hostage, a police official said. Police officers and army troops surrounded the San Isidro jail in the city of Popayan, capital of Cauca province, but were ordered not to force their way in, a police spokesman said.

A third Colombian prison fell under control of rebellious inmates amid a growing wave of protests against overcrowding and poor living conditions that began with the killing of four guards last week. The latest riot occurred in the Modelo prison in Bucaramanga, the site of frequent clashes between the military and leftist rebels. The riot followed last week's bloody uprising at the main jail in Valledupar, where four guards were killed.