many kilometers to kill the family of an Uzbek beekeeper. Uzbek tea houses (choyxonas) were also targeted, and several reports involve the abduction and rape of female tea house-goers. In Frunze (now Bishkek), protesters demanded that the leaders of Kirghizia resign. On 6 June, Gorbachev finally called in the Soviet Army under the Soviet Ministry of Interior to enter the area of the conflict and stay stationed only within cities. The Uzbek-Kyrgyz border was sealed off to prevent Uzbeks from the neighboring Uzbekistan from joining the riots. Official estimates of the death toll range from over 300 to more than 600. Unofficial figures range up to more than 1,000. According to unofficial estimates, more than 5,000 crimes were committed during the riots ranging from pillaging to murder. About 4,000 incidents were officially investigated and 3,215 acts of crime were registered. According to witnesses and personal testimonies, most of the rioters were young males, 29% of which were teenagers. Personal testimonies from victims, witness and participants revealed chemical intoxication was a significant influence on the rioters' actions. Aftermath In the 1991 trials conducted by the new independent Kyrgyz government, 46 of the 48 participants were found guilty, with sentences ranging from 18 years in a maximum security prison to suspended sentences. Most of the defendants were Kyrgyz. This contrasted with the Osh riots of 2010, in which those arrested and sentenced were mainly ethnic Uzbeks. With the 1991 independence of Kyrgyzstan, Uzbeks were not ensured much autonomy in the new government of Akayev and were held with deep suspicion by the general populace. In the mid-1990s Uzbeks occupied only 4.7% of the Osh regional posts. The economic depression following independence only heightened ethnic tensions in the following years. When law enforcement broke down in 2010, these hidden tensions were uncontrollable. That is one of the many reasons why speculators believe that the riots in 2010 were not just merely a repeat of those of 20 years before, but a continuation of the conflict. See also 2010 South Kyrgyzstan ethnic clashes 1990 Dushanbe riots References Sources 1990 riots Conflicts in 1990 1990 in the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic Ethnic riots Osh Protests in the Soviet Union Riots and civil disorder in Kyrgyzstan Riots and civil disorder in the Soviet Union June 1990 events in Asia 1990 protests Post-Soviet conflicts