On November 5-6, the delegation of Uzbekistan headed by the Minister of Justice (now former) Ruslanbek Davletov and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Furkat Sidikov visited the USA.
Members of the delegation held talks with the leadership of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), the Institute for Global Engagement (IGE) and experts from the Helsinki Commission.
According to the press service of the Ministry of Justice, at a meeting with the permanent members of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, the work being done in the field of ensuring religious freedom in Uzbekistan was discussed.
“In particular, reforms in the field of religious freedom and liberalization of legislation on religious organizations were thoroughly discussed with the American side. The results of measures taken to improve the practice of law enforcement in the field of ensuring freedom of religious belief in Uzbekistan were highlighted.
The members of the commission acknowledged that significant efforts have been made to improve the situation in the field of religious freedom in Uzbekistan. They expressed hope for the continuation of reforms in this regard, efforts to adapt the legislation to international standards,” the ministry said.
Following the meeting, Uzbekistan and the United States agreed to continue working dialogue to strengthen cooperation in the field of protection of religious freedom.
Also, at the meeting of the delegation of Uzbekistan with the representatives of the US Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Commission), the prospects of further deepening of partnership in the field of human rights protection were discussed.
In addition, Ruslanbek Davletov met with Eric Green, the special assistant to the US president, and Donald Lu, the assistant secretary of state.
On November 6, Ruslanbek Davletov also met with the newly appointed ambassador of the USA to Uzbekistan, Jonathan Henick. The ambassador of Uzbekistan in Washington, Javlon Vakhobov, who tweeted about it, did not dwell on the details of the meeting.
For information, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom released its updated report on Uzbekistan in September 2022. In the report, in 2021, as the situation related to religious freedom in Uzbekistan began to deteriorate, the commission recommended the US government to add the country to the list of countries “under special observation” for religious freedom.
“The Uzbek government has, in a sense, moved away from its progressive program of religious freedom reform,” the report says.
The report notes that although the newly adopted Law “On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations” contains several innovations, recommendations of international organizations such as the UN and OSCE and norms of international law were not taken into account when adopting it.
According to the studies of the international organization, there are about 2200 political prisoners in the prisons of Uzbekistan. Most of them were sentenced during the previous regime. The report also points out that in the capital Tashkent and some regions, the practice of taking men to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and forcibly shaving their beards continues.
In addition, the report mentions the prohibition of religious education abroad only with the permission of the Committee on Religious Affairs and the prohibition of the use and distribution of any materials without the permission of the committee.
In June of this year, the US State Department presented the 2021 report on the state of religious freedom in the world. It also contains negative conclusions about the state of religious freedom in Uzbekistan.
In recent times, social network activists have reported that the MIA Counter-Terrorism Department has increased its interference in the activities of private educational centers, and bloggers who are supposed to be “religious” are being invited to preventive talks.
It should be recalled that in December 2018, the US State Department removed Uzbekistan from the list of countries of “special concern” regarding religious freedom (“black list”). In December 2020, Uzbekistan also left the list of “countries under special surveillance” (“gray list”).
Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the context of combating terrorism, who visited Uzbekistan in December 2021, recommended that the laws against extremism and terrorism should be fundamentally reformed in the country.
