5 July 2021
Felix Corley, Forum 18, and Mushfig Bayram, Forum 18
Uzbekistan s new Religion Law – now with the President for signature - maintains almost all the restrictions on freedom of religion and belief in the current Religion Law. It continues to ban: all exercise of freedom of religion and belief without state permission; teaching about religion without state permission; sharing beliefs; and publishing, distributing or importing printed and electronic religious materials which have not undergone compulsory prior state censorship. The continuing restrictions are in defiance of Uzbekistan s legally binding international human rights obligations.
Uzbekistan s new Religion Law maintains almost all the restrictions on freedom of religion and belief in the current Religion Law, Forum 18 notes. The new Law – which officials have been working on since at least 2015 - completed passage in Parliament on 26 June and is now awaiting presidential signature into law.
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.