Source: www.forum18.org
Date: August 15, 2024
https://www.forum18.org/archiv
By Mushfig Bayram, Forum 18
In mid-July, a State Security Service (SSS) officer and an official of the
local Administration's Religious Affairs Department came to Abu Zar Mosque
in Yangiyul District of Tashkent Region. They said that as the Mosque is
not functioning, it will be handed over for business use. A local Muslim
linked the move to the Prime Minister's reported order at a government
meeting on 24 June that unregistered Mosques should be demolished or handed
over for business use.
"They just came, brazenly told us this and said that no one from the
mahalla should get angry about it," a local Muslim who asked not to be
identified for fear of state reprisals told Forum 18. The mosque community
has tried in vain to register it again since 2017 (see below).
The SSS secret police officer and the religious affairs official did not
answer their phones each time Forum 18 called. The Assistant to Zokirjon
Khidoyatov, Deputy Head of Tashkent Regional Administration who has
responsibility for religious affairs, promised that Khidoyatov would
respond to Forum 18 as to why the authorities will not allow Abu Zar Mosque
to reopen for worshippers, and why the authorities are planning to hand
over the Mosque for business use. He has not responded (see below).
As of mid-August, officials do not appear to have yet handed over Abu Zar
Mosque for business use, a local Muslim told Forum 18 (see below).
According to Radio Liberty's source familiar with the details of the 24
June government meeting, Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov explained his order
to demolish or hand over unregistered mosques for business use with the
"newly introduced concept of secular statehood". At the same time, he
stressed the importance in this process of "taking people's feelings into
account, carrying out explanatory work aimed at preventing possible
conflicts among the population" (see below).
Muslims told Forum 18 in early August that they are not aware of closures
of Mosques since Prime Minister Aripov's 24 June remarks. However, they
know of at least five Mosques closed down in Navoi and Fergana Regions in
2018 and 2019 which were handed to individuals for various uses (see
below).
The registered Baptist Union Church in the historic part of the
south-western city of Bukhara has not been able to meet publicly for
worship since May 2021 because the authorities sealed the Church building
after a broken water pipe caused damage. Baptists told Forum 18 that they
wanted to rebuild the Church building, but were told that they cannot do
this as the regime's Cultural Heritage Agency will allow repair work to be
done only by a specialised state company (see below).
"We asked the authorities to allow us to repair the new building, since
they are not doing anything with it now, or allow us to construct a new
building in the place of our sealed building," Baptists told Forum 18. "But
they refused both our proposals" (see below).
Sukhrob Ochilov, Head of the Heritage Department's Bukhara regional
division, wrote to the Church's pastor in July, saying the Department was
not competent to remove the church building from the heritage register to
allow it to be rebuilt. Ochilov declined to talk to Forum 18 (see below).
Officials appear to have changed their attitude to church members. "Last
year at least they were listening to us and promising that they will help
us. Now some officials tell us directly to our face: Leave my office and
get lost!" local Baptists told Forum 18. They did not want to identify
these officials, for fear of state reprisals (see below).
On 30 July, officials began demolishing two Baptist-owned buildings under
construction in Urgench in north-western Khorazm Region. The local
congregation intended to use one as its new place of worship. The
destruction followed a 25 April court hearing that the Baptists were not
informed about. Regime officials have either given contradictory
explanations to Forum 18 for the demolition, or refused to explain it
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
The regime's Religious Affairs Committee in Tashkent would not put Forum 18
through to Chief Specialist Begzod Kadyrov (see below).
Yangiyul: Authorities will not permit Abu Zar Mosque to reopen
On 18 July, officials came to Abu Zar Mosque in a mahalla (the smallest
residential area in Uzbekistan) in Yangiyul District of Tashkent Region.
Officials have not allowed the Mosque to function since 2007. A State
Security Service (SSS) secret police officer Nodir Kalandarov and a
Religious Affairs Department official of the local Administration Shukhrat
Jabborov announced that as the Mosque is not functioning, it will be handed
over for business use.
"They just came, brazenly told us this and said that no one from the
mahalla should get angry about it," a local Muslim who asked not to be
identified for fear of state reprisals told Forum 18. The Muslim linked the
move to the Prime Minister's reported announcement at a government meeting
on 24 June that unregistered Mosques should be demolished or handed over
for business use (see below).
As of mid-August, officials do not appear to have yet handed over the
Mosque, a Muslim told Forum 18.
Abu Zar Mosque, built with state permission, functioned from the 1990s to
2007. "How much hard work and money mahalla residents put into building the
mosque," the Muslim noted.
Officials closed the mosque in 2007 during the presidency of Islam Karimov
and it has not functioned since then, despite campaigns by local Muslims
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
"Mahalla residents have actively tried to register it since 2017, going to
all state agencies," the Muslim said. "Finally, in 2022 officials promised
us that it would soon be re-opened. A full-scale renovation then took
place. Now they are acting like this – I don't even know what to call
it."
Jakhongir Azomkhanov, Tashkent Regional Administration's official
overseeing freedom of religion or belief issues, defended the regime's
blocking of the Abu Zar Mosque community's registration attempts. "There
are very large mosques in the areas where Muslims can pray, and they can
attend those," he claimed to Forum 18 in April 2024
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
have convenient parking places for private cars. Why don't they just attend
those Mosques?"
Secret police officer Kalandarov did not answer his phone each time Forum
18 called between 20 July and 15 August. Nor did he respond to a written
question to his mobile phone as to why the Mosque cannot reopen for
worship. Yangiyul Administration's Jabbarov also did not answer his phone
between 20 July and 15 August.
The Assistant (who did not give his name) to Zokirjon Khidoyatov, Deputy
Head of Tashkent Regional Administration who has responsibility for
religious affairs, on 15 August wrote down Forum 18's questions why the
authorities will not allow Abu Zar Mosque to reopen for worshippers, and
why the authorities are planning to hand over the Mosque for business use.
He then said that Khidoyatov was busy "and will write back to you soon". He
could not specify when.
The official (who did not give his name) at the reception of the regime's
Religious Affairs Committee in Tashkent on 15 August took down Forum 18's
name and asked to wait on the line promising that he would put it through
to Chief Specialist Begzod Kadyrov. A few minutes later the call was cut
off. No one answered further calls on the same day to the only number that
the State Committee now has for calls.
Corruption remains endemic
(https://www.uzbekforum.org/ca
within business life and the ties of influential business figures with the
regime. Many are reluctant to discuss corruption as a factor in the human
rights violations they experience, yet there appears to be a strong
connection between human rights violations and corruption
(https://www.equalrightstrust.
It was suggested confidentially to Forum 18 that corruption may have been a
factor in a long-threatened demolition by a private company of Tashkent's
Ashkenazi Synagogue and 2020 claim for "compensation" from the Jewish
community. As the Jewish community could demonstrate that it had owned the
land and synagogue since 1973, it is unclear why a court in 2017 gave the
company a building permit to demolish the synagogue. No official was
willing to explain how a company could be handed property that belongs to a
religious organisation whose ownership is recorded on the State Land
Registry. The threat to the synagogue was only withdrawn in August 2020
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
attracted international attention.
Prime Minister orders mosque demolitions or seizures
On 24 June, Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov ordered the seizure and possible
demolition of more than 400 unregistered mosques
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
residents but not registered with the Justice Ministry, Radio Liberty's
Uzbek Service noted on 26 June
(https://www.ozodlik.org/a/bos
Some of the buildings to be seized were to be given to entrepreneurs for
commercial use.
Prime Minister Aripov was speaking at a government meeting he was chairing,
which was also attended by the heads of the Interior and Foreign
Ministries.
According to Radio Liberty's source familiar with the details of the
meeting, Aripov explained this decision with the "newly introduced concept
of secular statehood". At the same time, he stressed the importance in this
process of "taking people's feelings into account, carrying out explanatory
work aimed at preventing possible conflicts among the population".
Prime Minister Aripov has long been hostile – like the regime – to
Muslims exercising their freedom of religion or belief. In September 2023,
he is reported to have warned state officials not to attend mosques
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
either choose religion or work in the state," he was quoted as stating,
saying police would step up controls.
The numbers at the Office of Prime Minister Aripov and Justice Minister
Akbar Tashkulov went unanswered on 15 August.
The reception official (he did not give his name) of Culture Minister
Ozodbek Nazarbekov refused to put Forum 18 through to any official
responsible for religious affairs. "Everyone is busy with an international
event that will take place on 25 August," he responded when Forum 18 asked
who it could talk on the Prime Minister's instructions to turn Mosques into
businesses, markets, housing and local administration buildings.
The official (who did not give his name) at the reception of the regime's
Religious Affairs Committee in Tashkent on 15 August took down Forum 18's
name and asked to wait on the line promising that he would put it through
to Chief Specialist Begzod Kadyrov. A few minutes later the call was cut
off. No one answered further calls on the same day to the only number that
the State Committee now has for calls.
Mosques handed over earlier for other uses
Muslims told Forum 18 in early August that they are not aware of closures
of Mosques since Prime Minister Aripov's 24 June remarks. However, they
know of at least five Mosques closed down in Navoi and Fergana Regions in
2018 and 2019 which were handed to individuals for other use.
One Muslim from Navoi told Forum 18 that they know a Mosque in the centre
of Khatirchi District of Navoi Region, which was demolished in 2018. The
authorities then "handed the land on which it had stood to an entrepreneur,
who opened a market in place of the Mosque".
In 2018 and 2019, the authorities handed four Mosque buildings in Buvaydu
District of Fergana Region to individuals to use for different purposes,
another Muslim told Forum 18. The Mosques were then used as a house, a shop
for sewing clothes, a local mahalla administration, and a cafe.
The Muslims did not want to reveal their identity or more specific details
of the Mosques for fear of state reprisals.
Eliyor Mardonov, Deputy Head of Navoi Administration, on 15 August was
adamant that "no Mosques were closed down in Navoi." Told that Prime
Minister Aripov officially announced that more than 400 Mosques across
Uzbekistan were closed down and that they will be given to entrepreneurs
for commercial use and asked whether the local Navoi Muslims are not
telling the truth, "We have nothing to do with these issues. We do not open
or close Mosques."
Mardonov refused to tell Forum 18 who it should talk to in the Regional
Administration or other Regional authorities about the issue. He declined
to talk further.
The official (who did not give her name) who answered the phone at the
reception of Fergana Regional Administration on 15 August referred Forum 18
to Burkhanjan Kuldashov, Deputy Head of Administration on religious
affairs, when asked why Mosques were closed down from 2018 on in Fergana
Region, and why they were given for commercial and other use to various
individuals.
Saidakbar (who refused to give his last name) who answered Kuldashov's
phone, and who introduced himself as Kuldashov's Assistant, brushed it off
when Forum 18 repeated the question. "Who tells you this kind of
information? These are all lies. No mosques were closed down in
Uzbekistan."
Told that Prime Minister Aripov, speaking on 24 June, confirmed the
government's intentions to hand over closed Mosques for commercial use,
Saidakbar told Forum 18 in an angry tone: "Where do you get such
information? The Prime Minister has not said such things." He then declined
to talk further or put it through to Kuldashov or other officials at the
Administration.
Bukhara: Baptist Church closed, not able to meet publicly
The registered Baptist Union Church in the south-western city of Bukhara
has not been able to meet publicly for worship since May 2021 because the
authorities sealed the Church building
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Forum 18 on 12 August. The Church had been meeting for worship in its
church building – located in a historic part of the city – since 1971.
The authorities sealed the building a few days after a break in public
water pipes which caused major damage. Officials told the Baptists that
they cannot use their building as it could collapse at any moment. A
neighbour's house collapsed, but local authorities allowed them to rebuild
their own house (https://www.forum18.org/archi
work is finished. Baptists told Forum 18 that they wanted to rebuild the
Church building, but were told that they cannot do this as the regime's
Cultural Heritage Agency will allow repair work to be done only by a
specialised state company.
In early 2023, Bukhara Regional Administration officials showed Baptists a
derelict storage building, which they said would be given to the church as
its official place of worship.
In January 2024, the authorities employed unskilled workers
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
derelict storage building. However in May 2024 the repair works stopped
after the Baptists complained to the authorities that they were afraid they
will inherit a new building with a risk of collapse.
"We asked the authorities to allow us to repair the new building, since
they are not doing anything with it now, or allow us to construct a new
building in the place of our sealed building," Baptists told Forum 18. "But
they refused both our proposals."
Baptists pointed out that they are meeting in the homes of their members.
"We cannot fit all our people in one place for a worship meeting, and we
are afraid that at any time the authorities can punish us for doing so
since religious activity in private homes is banned by the Law."
Meetings for worship without state approval and in unapproved venues are
punishable (https://www.forum18.org/archi
Bukhara: "Officials tell us directly to our face: Leave my office and get
lost!"
The Church's Pastor, Shukhrat Safarov, wrote on 29 June to the regional
division of the Cultural Heritage Department asking it to exclude the
building from the special Register of buildings of Cultural Heritage. He
also asked it to permit the Church to carry out construction of a new
building to replace the old building, given its state of disrepair.
Sukhrob Ochilov, Head of the Heritage Department's Bukhara regional
division, responded to Pastor Safarov in a 4 July letter (seen by Forum
18). He said that the Bukhara division is "not competent to do so" and that
the Baptists "must ask the central government's Cabinet of Ministers, since
only it can exclude the building from the special Register".
"The authorities are refusing to take responsibility for their actions, and
are not taking us seriously," Baptists told Forum 18. "Last year at least
they were listening to us and promising that they will help us. Now some
officials tell us directly to our face: Leave my office and get lost!"
Local Baptists did not want to identify these officials, for fear of state
reprisals.
Officials at the City Administration and Regional Administration (who did
not give names) refused to tell Forum 18 on 29 July why the authorities
have not provided the Baptist Church with an appropriate building fit for
their worship services and other religious activity. They also refused to
put Forum 18 through to the Heads of the Administrations.
Ochilov of the Cultural Heritage Department also declined to answer why his
Department refuses to assist the Church in excluding the building from the
register and permitting it to build a new building. "My assistant Kamol
Salamov will explain to you," he told Forum 18 on 29 July.
"We know that the building is a property of the Baptist Church, and are
also aware that a UNESCO expert group evaluated that the building is in a
state of disrepair," Assistant Salamov told Forum 18 on 29 July. "However,
we cannot do anything about it since it is in the competence of the Cabinet
of Ministers to exclude it from the list of the protected buildings."
Salamov did not answer the question why his Department will not initiate
the process to the Government to permit the Baptists to construct a new
building. He then declined to talk further to Forum 18.
The reception official (who did not give his name) of Culture Minister
Ozodbek Nazarbekov refused to put Forum 18 through to any official
responsible for religious affairs. "Everyone is busy with an international
event that will take place on 25 August," the official responded from
Tashkent when Forum 18 asked who it could talk to about the Baptist Church
building in Bukhara.
The official (who did not give his name) at the reception of the regime's
Religious Affairs Committee in Tashkent on 15 August took down Forum 18's
name and asked to wait on the line promising that he would put it through
to Chief Specialist Begzod Kadyrov. A few minutes later the call was cut
off. No one answered further calls on the same day to the only number that
the State Committee now has for calls.
Bukhara: Foreign group evaluated sealed church building?
In mid-June, an international group visited Bukhara, of which the historic
centre is a World Heritage Site. The Baptist church is located in the
historic quarter of the city.
The group allegedly evaluated the sealed church building. "We were there to
watch what they would do and what conclusions they would reach," Baptists
told Forum 18. "We heard them speaking a foreign language and we understood
that it is impossible to restore that building."
Bukhara Regional Administration officials told the Church that the group
was from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO).
Sara Noshadi, UNESCO Representative in Uzbekistan, told Forum 18 from
Tashkent on 14 August that "no UNESCO mission has been dispatched to visit,
monitor or advise on Bukhara heritage sites from January 2024". She added
that "the government has not consulted us regarding the [Bukhara Baptist]
church, and we have not made an assessment of it either".
Kamol Salamov of the Cultural Heritage Department promised to give Forum 18
contacts for the group he claimed was from UNESCO. He did not do so.
After the response from Noshadi of UNESCO on 14 August, Forum 18 wrote to
Salamov on 15 August asking why the authorities apparently attempted to
mislead the Baptists and Forum 18 that the visiting group was from UNESCO.
It repeated the question why the Heritage Department has not requested the
Government to permit the Baptists to construct a new building on the site.
Kalamov saw the message but did not respond as of the end of the working
day in Uzbekistan of 15 August.
Muslim prayer rooms closed down across the country
Many prayer rooms have been closed across the country
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Employees of restaurants and petrol stations told Forum 18 and local human
rights defenders that the Interior Ministry claimed in December 2023 that
prayer rooms were closed as "some criminals who escaped from a prison in
November may use them".
Human rights defenders who wish to remain anonymous for fear of state
reprisals commented to Forum 18 that "this is not a serious reason to close
prayer rooms. The Interior Ministry has used different excuses to close
prayer rooms in different parts of the country."
A state-owned Uzbekistan Railways official (who refused to give her name)
told Forum 18 from Tashkent in January 2024
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
prayer rooms "do not function". However, she refused to tell Forum 18 when
and why they were closed, or say which official was responsible for
overseeing the closures. An Uzbekistan Railways official in a major
regional railway station told Forum 18 that "this station's prayer room was
closed in 2022". They then refused to discuss the issue further.
In summer 2024, Tashkent's Grand Mir Hotel closed its prayer room, a Muslim
who had visited the hotel told Forum 18. (END)
More reports on freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Uzbekistan
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
For background information, see Forum 18's Uzbekistan religious freedom
survey (https://www.forum18.org/archi
Forum 18's compilation of Organisation for Security and Co-operation in
Europe (OSCE) freedom of religion or belief commitments
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
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