Freedom of religion and belief, with interlinked freedoms of expression, association, and assembly, remains severely restricted in Uzbekistan. Forum 18 s survey analysis documents violations including: jailing and torturing prisoners of conscience whose only crime is to exercise their freedom of religion and belief; banning education and worship meetings without state permission; complete state control of all expressions of Islam; and religious literature censorship and destruction.
28 May 2021
Mushfig Bayram, Forum 18
On 27 May, Asliddin Khudaiberdiyev was jailed for teaching five boys and six adult men how to read the Koran and pray. The jailing followed a police and secret police raid on a Samarkand Region mosque as Muslims were preparing to worship. The raid came as the regime publicly announced and implemented increased restrictions across the country on under-18s attending mosques. Also, Religion Law changes are still going through parliament but the regime continues to hide the text its parliament is discussing.
On 27 May, a Judge in Samarkand Region jailed Muslim teacher Asliddin Khudaiberdiyev for 15 days to punish him for teaching men and boys in a mosque how to read the Koran and say the namaz prayer. Judge Aziz Akramov refused to explain to Forum 18 why he jailed Khudaiberdiyev for 15 days. The jailing followed a police and secret police raid on the mosque.