State Repression of Religion in Uzbekistan

Following the formal disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia, Georgia, and other newly independent nations witnessed a tremendous resurgence of open forms of worship and practice of Orthodox Christianity, emerging from what had otherwise been a considerably atheistic state hostile to religious worship.  Despite the recent wave of religious revival, this tendency has not reached every corner of the vast former Soviet Union.  In particular, Uzbekistan, a nation which has enjoyed independent national autonomy within the vast region of Central Asia, has not been a part of the trend.  To this day, individuals and organizations in Uzbekistan belonging to or sympathizing with religious groups face severe repression from state authorities.

                Christians from a variety of denominations comprise roughly twelve percent of the population of Uzbekistan.  They are also subjected to extreme repression.  In August 2012, Natalya Pleshakova and her mother, Valentina, were subjected to a home invasion by armed Uzbek men who forcefully entered their property, physically assaulted the women and looted their house on the Ok Yul street of Tashkent.  Natalya and her mother were urged to convert to Islam.  After refusing, Natalya was then beaten and intimidated into signing a confession which claimed she was in possession of over 125 religious books and items.  Initially, the women were fined 1.447m Sums ($516 USD).  One month later, Judge V Tsvetkov, presiding over a Tashkent court, dismissed the fines, but did not rule them to be not guilty.  Instead, he insisted that they were in the wrong for allegedly distributing Jehova’s Witness literature, nevermind the fact that they are Russian Orthodox.  Since then, the harassment of the Pleshakov family has been an ongoing affair, as the 54-year old Valentina was beaten again and is currently missing.  The fact that not a single perpetrator involved in these beatings has been investigated or prosecuted indicates that Tashkent authorities and their executive authority, President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov, are permissive of these developments.

                Other Christians, particularly those affiliated with the Baptist Union, have also experienced violence at the hands of police in Uzbekistan.  In the Bostanlyk District of Tashkent, police presented a warrant of eviction to a summer camp organized by the Baptist Union, an organization which had previously purchased roughly an acre of land from a chain of restaurants in 2000.  Uzbekistan’s Department of Privatization and Deregulation of Property (DPD) reports that in 2004, they received a complaint from locals which claimed the camp was misusing the plot of land, which had previously been a public cemetery.  How the Baptist Union managed to buy from a restaurant chain an acre of land alleged to have previously been used as a cemetery remains unclear, yet the DPD filed suit through the Tashkent Economic Board, insisting that the Baptist Union relinquish the land to the state.  A similar Christian camp in the village of Mironkul was raided in July 2013.  Many of the camp attendants’ personal effects were seized, and nine adults and twenty-two children were taken to a police station for questioning.  This incident was not reported in Uzbek media until the 6^th of August.
                In June 2013, Sardorbek Nurmitov (a Protestant) was apprehended by Uzbek police Captain Shukhrat Masharipov on the premise of passport control.  His personal effects, including a memory stick which contained Christian material, were seized.  He was then beaten severely in the head and chest with a thick book.  The Religious Affairs Committee of Uzbekistan maintains that it is illegal for any individual to possess religious material of any nature.  The grievances of Christians in Uzbekistan are many, but they are not the only targets.

                Despite the references to Islamist conversion in the previous story of Natalya Peshakova, the Sunni Muslims of Uzbekistan (who comprise an estimated 88% of the national population) enjoy no protection from the state either.  It is reported that iftar meals, a sacred breakfast taken by Muslims during the month of fasting for Ramadan, were banned in Tashkent, which was in recent years the only city in Uzbekistan where these meals were tolerated.

“Muslims in Kashkadarya Region in southern Uzbekistan are afraid to ‘organise group prayers in their private homes even during [the current month of] Ramadan’, Nodir Akhadov of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan told Forum 18 from Karshi [Qarshi] in the Region. He said on July 31st that the authorities ‘through the mahalla [local district] committees and their spies make sure that group prayers do not take place in homes.’”

                Since the iftar meals are reported to have been banned by authorities in Uzbekistan, devout Uzbek Muslims are forced to either forego the ritual or do so in utter secrecy.  Uzbek Muslims are allowed to attend mosques, just as Uzbek Christians are allowed to attend churches for their regular congregation.  Still, this is only permitted under strict supervision of police officers.  The message from President Karimov seems to be quite contradictory to the apparent measures taken by his national police forces.  In early August, he urged Muslims of Uzbekistan to widely celebrate Hayit.

                In accordance with provisions established by the Religious Affairs Committee of Uzbekistan, stiff fines are levied against any individual, regardless of their faith, found to be in possession of religious material.  Forum18, an organization which works to report on religious freedoms in Central Asia, attempted to call the head of the “Expertise” department of the Religious Affairs Committee, Sobitjan Sharipov, in July, but was snubbed with every attempt.  In the village of Tuyabuguz, Uzbek national police conducted a raid which found four people guilty of possessing Bibles as well as Korans.  Similarly, an atheist couple was arrested and fined for possessing several copies of Christian Bibles.  The fines placed on the guilty parties were, on average, twice the amount of the average $70 USD state pension received by Uzbeks.  Considering the sheer size of the fines, it’s hard to imagine how an Uzbek could, after being convicted of these charges, continue to earn a living.

                Karimov’s regime does not appear to be sympathetic towards Jews in Uzbekistan either.  According to the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, there are approximately 13,000 ethnic Jews living in Uzbekistan.  The EAJC also reports that it is becoming increasingly difficult for Jewish support organizations to operate within Uzbekistan.  Much like the Muslim Koran and Christian Bible, the Jewish Torah is also banned under the provisions established by the Religious Affairs Committee of Uzbekistan. In Tashkent in 2006, one of the only registered Jewish rabbis in Uzbekistan, Avraham Yagudayev, was found dead.  Despite the unusual circumstances, Uzbek authorities reported that it was simply an auto accident, which provoked outrage from Jews worldwide.  In response to increasingly inhospitable conditions for Jews in Uzbekistan, International Christian Embassy Jerusalem is accommodating for aliyah to Israel.  The organization is comprised of Christians from a variety of denominations and seeks to provide relief and assistance to Israel and persecuted Jews worldwide.
                There are many likely factors which might determine the rationale of the Karimov administration’s severe repression of self-declared religious individuals and those simply in possession religious materials.  For one, some of the victimized religious individuals or associations are also accused of not being the rightful owners of the property on which they reside or operate.  Perhaps the Karimov administration relies on these accusations of religious affiliation as a pretext to seize attractive properties and plots of land.  There is also the likelihood that the Karimov administration seeks to repress Islam in Uzbekistan out of fear of a return of the threat of extremist groups to the region.   After all, Karimov narrowly escaped an assassination bombing attempt in 2004, to which the Islamic Jihad Union claimed responsibility.  It is not unlikely that the Karimov administration, with the intent to combat terrorism and extremist groups, insists on repressing any form of resurgence or revival of Islam in Uzbekistan.  Considering these trends, it is expected that the Karimov administration of Uzbekistan will continue to utilize repression of religious expression and association in order to achieve particular economic, political, and security objectives.