The Akmalikramovskyi district court of the city of Tashkent convicted 23 people to imprisonment varying from 8 to 18 years for alleged violations of the articles 159 (attempt to overthrow the constitutional government of Uzbekistan), 216 (participating in banned public associations or religious organizations), and 244 (possessing and distributing materials threatening national security) of the Uzbekistan Criminal Code. The Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan that monitored the trial maintains that the allegations are based not on evidence of participation in anti-state or terrorist activity but on the religious practice and beliefs of the accused. At the trial, most of the accused retracted their earlier testimonies given during interrogation, saying that they were forced to confess under torture and threats to their families. They also maintained that MVD (Internal Affairs Ministry) agents themselves planted the leaflets of Hizb-ut-Tahrir (Party of Liberation) and other unsanctioned religious literature in their homes. 

Ruslan Sharipov of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan states that this latest trial is yet another manifestation of the continuing government crack down on pious Muslims under premises of fighting Islamic fundamentalism. ‘This instigates witch hunt fears in the society to the extent that people are not only afraid to express their religious beliefs in public or wear religious dress, but even to pray at their own homes, as their private religious practices are closely followed by the local Makhallya committees,’ he said. Makhallya committees are often presented by official Tashkent as democratic institutions grounded in Uzbek traditions. But, in fact, one of their functions is to report suspicious behavior of particular individuals and families to security services. Through Makhallya committees, the SNB (National Security Service) also distributes questionnaires aimed at identifying young people susceptible to fundamentalist ideas. Based on Makhallya reports, the SNB composes ‘black lists’ of suspicious Muslims who are watched by the agents and arrested whenever there is a perceived threat by the IMU or Hizb-ut-Tahrir.

A known Uzbek human rights advocate based in Washington DC, Abdumannob Polat says that security agents decide on whether someone belongs or sympathizes with the banned Hizb-ut-Tahrir or IMU (Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan) parties on the basis of religious practices that are associated with fundamentalism and ‘wahhabism’ in this region. For instance, agents who routinely infiltrate every mosque make notice of what people talk about, what they wear and how they pray. One of the SNB and MVD prescriptions for distinguishing ‘fundamentalist’ Muslims from ‘moderate’ Muslims is through the way they perform their prayer. The difference is that ‘fundamentalists’ say loudly ‘Allahu Akbar’ and raise their hands during the prayer as opposed to traditional Central Asian Muslims of the Hanafi school, who recite ‘Allahu Akbar’ silently and hold their hands at their chests. Another distinction is that fundamentalists tend not to observe traditional ‘iygyrmasy’ (20 days), ‘qyrqy’ (40 days) and 'yili' (year) commemoration dinners for deceased relatives.

The Uzbek embassy in Washington had no comments when asked about recent mass trials. On the question of religious persecution, however, a secretary of the political and press section, Ravshan Nazarkulov, asserted that there is no oppression of Islam in Uzbekistan. ‘The government considers Islam to be a social basis of Uzbek society and always promotes Islamic values,’ he said. He also referred to Naqshbandyyah Sufi Tariqat leader sheikh Hisham Kabbani and the Naqshbandyyah organization in America, the Islamic Supreme Council of America. Sheikh Kabbani and his group have visited Uzbekistan on several occasions, most recently in April 2001, and widely publicized a positive opinion of the state of religious affairs in Uzbekistan. Characterizing the post-Soviet period in Uzbekistan as Islamic Renaissance, the Islamic Supreme Council of America commended the president of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov for his commitment to preserve Uzbekistan’s rich Islamic heritage and traditions – his contributions to restoring Islamic holy sites, establishing Islamic centers of learning, and building new mosques.

By Alima Bissenova, a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, and an editorial assistant to the Central Asia-Caucasus Analyst.