USCIRF Report Warns Of Deteriorating Religious Freedom In Uzbekistan
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has issued a new report warning that religious freedom conditions in Uzbekistan further deteriorated in 2024, with the government continuing to impose restrictive laws, penalties, and censorship on religious communities.
USCIRF, an independent and bipartisan agency established by the U.S. Congress, monitors religious freedom abroad and makes policy recommendations to the U.S. President, Secretary of State, and Congress. Its latest issue update, “Uzbekistan’s Administrative Penalties for Peaceful Religious Activity,” describes how Uzbek authorities applied administrative penalties throughout 2024 to target religious groups and individuals engaged in peaceful practice. The commission said the Uzbek government relies on its 2021 Law on Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations, commonly known as the “religion law,” to enforce a system of controls over religious life.
The law builds on a 1998 statute and places strict bureaucratic barriers on religious communities. It bans missionary activity and proselytism, prohibits unregistered religious education, and requires state approval for religious materials. In 2024, Uzbekistan’s parliament, the Oliy Majlis, adopted additional legislation penalizing parents or guardians for allowing children to receive unauthorized religious education.
According to USCIRF, these measures reflect lingering Soviet-era policies designed to keep religion under state control. Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov in June ordered the demolition of more than 400 unregistered mosques and prayer spaces for conversion to commercial use, though no demolitions were reported. The commission cited the example of an unregistered mosque in Tashkent’s Yangiyul district, closed by the government in 2007. Despite repeated attempts by its congregation to register, officials refused and later threatened to convert the building into a business.
Other religious groups faced similar restrictions. In February 2024, the Tashkent Inter-District Administrative Court rejected a Jehovah’s Witnesses complaint against an official’s refusal to designate a building as its legal address, which is required for registration. The Tashkent Administrative Court Appeal Board upheld that decision in April. Protestant churches also continued to see registration attempts blocked, while their members reported harassment by the State Security Service. The report noted that officials in Karakalpakstan and Khorezm questioned unregistered church members and, in one case, accused a Protestant Christian of attending an “illegal extremist Wahhabi group” before pressuring him to report on his congregation.
The commission also described continued targeting of Muslims who sought to practice their faith independently of state structures. Authorities issued fines, arrests, and prison sentences in what they said were efforts to counter extremism. USCIRF documented more than 50 cases of Uzbeks imprisoned on vague charges linked to peaceful religious activity. Meanwhile, the quasi-independent Muslim Board of Uzbekistan played a central role in controlling clerics. In April 2024, the board ordered imams to hand in their passports, a move seen as a way to restrict their movement following a terrorist attack in Moscow carried out by Tajik nationals linked to the Islamic State. The following month, imams were instructed not to use social media or engage with other people’s content online.
The Committee on Religious Affairs also maintained a list of banned social media channels and warned citizens not to interact with online religious posts that had not received state theological approval. Officials said such interaction could result in severe consequences, including large fines. In June, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev reinforced the government’s stance, warning that “various forces in the world are trying to destroy the essence of religion and lead young people astray from the true path.”
In its 2025 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended that Uzbekistan be placed on the U.S. Department of State’s Special Watch List for systematic and ongoing violations of religious freedom. In September, the commission also held a hearing examining laws impacting religious freedom across Central Asia, including Uzbekistan.
The latest report calls for further action by the U.S. government. It urged the State Department to impose targeted sanctions on State Security Service officials who repeatedly arrest individuals for peaceful religious activity, including freezing assets and restricting visas under human rights authorities. It also recommended that religious freedom be included in all forthcoming C5+1 discussions between the United States and Central Asian governments. For Congress, the commission advised raising religious freedom concerns in bilateral meetings, delegation visits, and hearings, while suspending the Uzbek government’s annual “Uzbekistan Day” event on Capitol Hill until all individuals imprisoned for peaceful religious activity are released.
Uzbekistan is a majority Muslim country of around 36 million people. Between 88 and 96 percent of the population identify as Muslim, mostly Hanafi Sunni, with a small Shi’a minority. Russian Orthodox Christians account for about 2 percent. Other communities include atheists, Jews, Baha’is, Buddhists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Roman Catholics, and Protestant Christians.
USCIRF concluded that religious freedom in Uzbekistan remains severely restricted and showed little improvement in 2024. “Religious freedom conditions in Uzbekistan further deteriorated in 2024,” the commission stated, pointing to restrictive laws, harassment of believers, censorship, and the imprisonment of dozens of individuals on religion-related charges.
