RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE AND INTERFAITH HARMONY IN UZBEKISTAN

The declaration of independence and the commitment of the Government
of Uzbekistan to the ideals of democracy, the choice of a secular path of
development of society gradually made it possible to create equal legal conditions
for religions in general and religious groups in particular.
In the religious sphere, this large-scale work is carried out by relevant
government agencies and civil society institutions and is aimed at ensuring
citizens’ constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of conscience;
strengthening religious pluralism, tolerance and interfaith dialogue.
One of the significant results of our joint work is the adoption by the UN
General Assembly in December 2018 of a special resolution on "Education and
religious tolerance".
The adoption of the resolution was the practical implementation of the
initiative of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, put
forward at the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly. The main goal of the
proposed resolution is to "ensure universal access to education, eliminate
illiteracy and ignorance".
It is noteworthy that the resolution was not only unanimously supported by
all UN member states, but also adopted with the co-authorship of over 50
countries. This indicates the high recognition by the international community of
the relevance and timeliness of the initiative of the President of Uzbekistan.
The document is intended to "promote tolerance and mutual respect, ensure
religious freedom, protect the rights of believers, and prevent discrimination
against them".
The resolution emphasizes the important role of promoting peace, human
rights, tolerance and friendship, and recognizes the importance of integration,
mutual respect, tolerance and mutual understanding in the name of strengthening
global security and peace.
The document welcomes all international, regional and national initiatives
aimed at promoting interreligious, intercultural and interfaith harmony and
combating discrimination against individuals based on religion or belief.
At the same time, the adopted resolution calls on UN member states to
implement appropriate communication strategies, such as large-scale propaganda
in national and international media, as well as on the Internet, and to disseminate
educational information about tolerance, nonviolence, and freedom of religion or
belief.
The document also recognizes UNESCO’s key role in promoting peace and
security in the world by expanding cooperation between nations through
education, science, and culture.
In recent years, significant changes have taken place in Uzbekistan and
large-scale reforms have been implemented in many areas, including religious
education.
A number of legislative acts have been adopted aimed at further improving
activities in the religious sphere.
The International Islamic Academy of Uzbekistan has been established
for the purpose of in-depth study of Islam and teaching its scientific foundations.
The academy specializes in teaching secular and religious knowledge, training
qualified personnel in the interpretation of the Quran, islamic law, religious
dogmas and hadith.
Uzbekistan employs unique mechanisms for reviving national and religious
values, studying and promoting the rich scientific and spiritual heritage of its
great ancestors, and strengthening religious tolerance in society. The Center for
islamic civilization and the International research centers of Imam Bukhari,
Imam Termizi and Imam Maturidi have been established.
As a result of the large-scale reforms and transformations carried out in the
religious sphere, the Mir Arab higher madrasah in Bukhara, the School of
Hadith studies in Samarkand, the Imam Termizi madrasah and the Imam
Termizi islamic institute in Termez began their activities.
In addition, the "Waqf" charitable public foundation has been established
under the Muslim board of Uzbekistan, whose tasks include financing the
reconstruction of mosques, holy places of pilgrimage and visits, and other
facilities, providing a logistical base and providing financial support to workers in
this field. The foundation was given the opportunity to dispose of funds credited
to 3 accounts: charity, waqf and zakat (ushr, fidya, fitr).
In accordance with the adopted legislative acts, in order to further improve
the activities of the Committee on religious affairs, a new composition of the
Council on religious affairs, which is a public advisory body under the
Committee, has been approved.
The Council’s activities are inextricably linked to ensuring religious
freedom in the country, and respecting the rights of religious organizations and
believers. The initiatives of the Council members are being fully implemented as
part of the measures taken by the country’s leadership to protect and further
strengthen the rights and freedoms of religious movements.
The importance and timeliness of the measures taken by the country’s
leadership led to the holding of the international forum "Dialogue of declarations"
on May 16-20, 2022 in Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara. This event was part of
Uzbekistan’s systematic and consistent efforts to put into practice the principles
and provisions enshrined in the Special resolution of the UN General Assembly
on "Education and religious tolerance", adopted in 2018 at the initiative of
President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
I would especially like to note that at the 76th session of the UN General
Assembly, the "Bukhara declaration", adopted as a result of this forum, was
recognized as an official UN document. As an official UN document, the
document has been translated into 6 languages and distributed among the UN
member states, as well as specialized agencies of the organization.
At the moment, the uzbek side, together with some foreign partners, has
begun preparations for the next round of the international forum "Dialogue of
declarations". The event is scheduled to take place on September 10-13, 2025 in
Tashkent and Samarkand.
There are special dates in Uzbekistan that are closely related to the
religious life of believers: these are the "Peoples’ friendship day", celebrated on
July 30, and the "International day of tolerance", celebrated on November 16.
Both of these dates are marked not only by events, but also by the presentation of
appropriate badges - the badge "Halklar dustligi" ("Friendship of peoples") has
been awarded since 2021, and the badge "Diniy bagrikenglik" ("Religious
tolerance") has been awarded to distinguished citizens since 2023. Among the
awardees there are representatives of various religious denominations of
Uzbekistan.
At the same time, Uzbekistan attaches great importance to preserving
religious and spiritual heritage, enriching existing funds, creating the necessary
conditions for local and foreign researchers to work with historical sources, and
comprehensively studying historical and cultural heritage samples.
Today, in order to ensure interethnic and interfaith harmony in society, a
legislative framework has been created in the country that ensures respect for the
rights and legitimate interests of citizens.
The Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan establishes a norm on the
freedom of religion of every person. Attention is also being paid to improving and
liberalizing national legislation in the field of religion. Procedures for obtaining
permits for the manufacture, import and distribution of religious literature have
been simplified. The procedure for state registration of religious organizations
has been further optimized.
A new Law on "Freedom of conscience and religious organizations" is
currently in force, which helps ensure the constitutional rights of citizens to
freedom of conscience and religion.
Noting the fundamental innovations in the Law as a consistent continuation
of large-scale reforms in the religious and educational sphere, special attention
should be paid, first of all, to creating favorable conditions for ensuring freedom
of conscience of every person, clarifying law enforcement practice.
Currently, a total of 2372 religious organizations of 16 religious
denominations operate in Uzbekistan. Of these, there are 2174 muslim
organizations, which is 92 percent of the total number.
There are also 180 christian organizations in Uzbekistan, 8 jewish
communities, 7 baha’i faith communities, one Hare Krishna society and one
buddhist temple, as well as the interfaith Bible society of Uzbekistan.
Recently, 133 religious organizations have been registered in Uzbekistan,
including 3 higher and one specialized secondary Islamic educational institutions
in Bukhara, Samarkand and Termez, 105 mosques and 24 non-islamic
organizations of 7 different religious denominations.
At the same time, the national legislation of Uzbekistan does not provide
for any restrictions on the number of religious organizations or the timing of their
registration.
Religious organizations operating in the republic, along with other public
organizations, actively participate in spiritual and educational work, make a
significant contribution to improving the spirituality of society, forming strong
beliefs among young people based on patriotism, as well as interfaith and
interethnic tolerance.
It should be noted that religious policy in Uzbekistan is based on the
principles of the secular nature of the state, tolerant and equal treatment of all
religions. Representatives of various nations and ethnic groups professing islam,
christianity, buddhism, judaism and other religions carry out their activities in the
republic on equal terms.
All conditions have been created for adherents of each denomination to
freely and unhindered practice their religion.
Believers pray freely in mosques, churches, synagogues, observe fasting,
and also make pilgrimages. Religious organizations have the right to own
territories, publish literature, train their religious ministers, and organize
pilgrimages to sacred sites.
The freedom of religion guaranteed by the national legislation of
Uzbekistan has created all the necessary conditions to meet the religious needs of
all citizens representing 138 national and ethnic groups.
Representatives of different faiths freely celebrate all religious holidays.
Thus, Eid al-Adha and Ramadan hayit are celebrated on an increasing scale by
muslims, Easter and Christmas by christians, Passover, Purim and Hanukkah by
jews, Nowruz by Baha’is, as well as celebrations dedicated to Buddha and
Krishna and other major events.
Believers make pilgrimages to holy places: muslims go to Saudi Arabia to
perform the Hajj and Umrah rituals, christians to Russia, Greece and Israel, and
jews to Israel.
Over the years of independence, about 430 thousand muslims have made
pilgrimages to Saudi Arabia, including 158 thousand for Hajj and 272 thousand
for Umrah, and more than 2.9 thousand christians and jews have visited religious
shrines in Israel, Russia, Turkey, Italy, Georgia, and Greece.
To meet the spiritual needs of society, a large number of religious literature
of various orientations is published annually. To fully cover the religious life of
Uzbekistan, a number of newspapers and magazines are published, including the
newspapers "Islom nuri", "Word of life", "Hidoyat" and "East from above".
Today, Uzbekistan systematically implements a set of measures to protect
the population from the negative impact of destructive ideas reflecting radical
extremist ideology and religious fanaticism.
An important step in this direction was the application of acts of pardon. In
particular, since 2017, 27 decrees of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan
have been adopted on pardoning persons who have committed crimes.
It should be noted that in recent years, as part of a consistent policy in
Uzbekistan in the field of protecting the rights and freedoms of citizens, special
attention has been paid to measures aimed at protecting the rights, freedoms,
honor and dignity of not only citizens living in the republic, but also our fellow
citizens who find themselves in difficult situations in foreign countries..
Unfortunately, some of our citizens, who fell under the influence of alien
ideas and believed false promises, joined the ranks of international terrorist
organizations in armed conflict zones abroad over the years. The spouses and
fathers of some of the women returned as part of humanitarian operations were
killed in armed clashes.
Taking this into account, on behalf of the President of Uzbekistan, five
humanitarian actions "Mehr" were successfully conducted in 2019-2021, during
which more than 500 citizens of the republic, mostly women and children, were
returned to their homeland from armed conflict zones in the Middle East and
Afghanistan.
In order to further facilitate their early reintegration and rehabilitation, a set
of measures has been implemented at the state level to provide timely medical,
psychological, material and moral assistance. To date, all repatriates have been
provided with the necessary conditions for their adaptation to peaceful life and
integration into society, and access to educational and other social programs has
been provided, including through housing and employment.
The Uzbek authorities are focusing on establishing a constructive dialogue
and cooperation with international organizations and experts in the religious field.
During the visits to Uzbekistan of the UN High Commissioner for Human
rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein and OSCE High commissioner for national
minorities Lamberto Zannier, the current state of affairs was discussed, the
reforms in our country were highly appreciated, it was noted that Uzbekistan pays
special attention to ensuring interethnic harmony and religious tolerance,
strengthening friendship between representatives of various nations and
nationalities.
Following the visit to Uzbekistan of the UN Special rapporteur on freedom
of religion and belief, Ahmed Shahid, a separate document was adopted on the
implementation of a set of measures in the field of religion.
The Special rapporteur noted the progress made in simplifying the
procedures for registering and operating religious organizations, as well as
improving the religious education system in the country.
The UN representative welcomed the interaction of the uzbek authorities
with the OSCE Office for democratic institutions and human rights and stressed
their interest in promoting reforms in the field of religious freedom protection in
the country.
In general, it is worth noting that an important distinguishing feature of the
religious life of modern Uzbekistan is the inadmissibility of establishing
advantages or restrictions for one religion in relation to other faiths.
One of the main priorities of reforming society in order to ensure
interethnic harmony and religious tolerance is to ensure and protect the rights and
freedoms of citizens, their equality before the law, regardless of race, gender,
nationality, language, social origin, beliefs, religion, personal and social status,
which are enshrined in the Constitution of Uzbekistan.
Uzbekistan consistently and strictly fulfills its international obligations in
the field of ensuring religious freedoms within the framework of international
human rights treaties.
As you know, Uzbekistan has now joined more than 70 major international
human rights instruments. The accession to these documents contributed to the
creation of an effective human rights protection system in Uzbekistan.
It is important that Uzbekistan’s religious policy, aimed at strengthening
interfaith dialogue and religious tolerance in society, is an important factor for
stability and security.
In conclusion, I would like to emphasize that the large-scale reforms being
implemented in the country are a clear confirmation of the consistent
continuation by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan of the
implementation of the principle of "Everything for the sake of man, for the
sake of his future".
Committee on religious affairs