The Kyrgyz Revolution of 2010, also known as the Second Kyrgyz Revolution, the Melon Revolution, the April Events ( Aprel okuyasy) or officially as the People's April Revolution, began in April 2010 with the ousting of Kyrgyz president Kurmanbek Bakiyev in the capital Bishkek. It was followed by increased ethnic tension involving Kyrgyz people and Uzbeks in the south of the country, which escalated in June 2010. The violence ultimately led to the consolidation of a new parliamentary system in Kyrgyzstan. During the general mayhem, exiles from the Uzbek minority claim they were assaulted and driven to Uzbekistan, with some 400,000 Kyrgyzstani citizens becoming internally displaced. Victims interviewed by media and aid workers testify to mass killing, gang rape and torture. Then-head of the Interim government Roza Otunbayeva indicated that the death toll is tenfold higher than was previously reported, which brings the number of the dead to 2,000 people. Background Domestic policy During the winter of 2009–2010 Kyrgyzstan suffered from rolling blackouts and cutoffs occurring regularly while energy prices rose. In January 2010 Kyrgyzstan sent a delegation to China to discuss improved economic relations. Kyrgyzstan national electric company Natsionalnaya electricheskaya syet and the Chinese Tebian Electric signed a contract to build the Datka-Kemin 500 kV power transmission lines. This would have reduced Kyrgyzstan's dependence on the Central Asian power systems and energy dependence on Russia. The delegation was led by then President Bakiyev's son. In February 2010 Kyrgyzstan proposed raising energy tariffs. Heating costs were reportedly going to rise 400% and electricity by 170%. Long-term frustration was building in Kyrgyzstan over the perceived corruption and cronyism in the Bakiyev administration, as well as the country's poor economic situation and a recent rise in utility rates. The sporadic and chaotic protests took many off guard both in Kyrgyzstan and abroad. The Guardian, a British national daily newspaper, published an article on 8 April that suggested the revolt could be dubbed the Fir Tree Revolution after the shrubs that looters dug up from the front garden of Kurmanbek Bakiyev. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Kyrgyzstan on 3 April, and protesters gathered outside the UN's headquarters in the capital of Bishkek to inform Ban Ki-moon of the media situation. A small group of protesters then moved to the center of town, but were stopped by police. Foreign policy Some people in the media suggested that the riots in the country