WORLD : South Africa Frees 50 Detainees

The government freed 50 more detainees today after hunger strikes were halted at two prisons, but scores of detainees continued to fast elsewhere and police said 20 were hospitalized.

Law and Order Minister Adriaan Vlok told Parliament he had signed release warrants for 50 detainees. About 225 detainees still are refusing food at prisons in the southern cities of Durban, Pietermaritzburg and East London, their lawyers said. The first wave of hunger strikes began Jan. 23 and involved nearly 300 detainees who broke their fast after Vlok promised to review their cases and release “a substantial number.”