Your own Islam

From the minarets of Uzbekistan they praise Allah and his “prophet” - Karimov

The situation with human rights violations in Uzbekistan, according to human rights activists, remains the most difficult in comparison with other former Soviet republics.
This is exactly what lawyer Igor Vorontsov, who was a representative of Human Rights Watch (HRW) in Uzbekistan from 2007 to 2009, spoke about in his report given at the Smolny Institute of Liberal Arts and Sciences. A well-known Russian human rights lawyer spoke about the monitoring that HRW employees conducted for several years, trying to monitor how civil liberties are respected in this state and what role the Islamic factor plays in the politics and public life of the country.


The ashes of Andijan knock on hearts
According to human rights activists, the government of Islam Karimov back in the early nineties set a course for suppressing public life in Uzbekistan. In 1992, the Uzbek leader banned the activities of the main political parties, which were forced to transfer their activities to other countries. In fact, from that time on, the entire social life of Uzbekistan was reduced to the religious sphere. Moreover, during this period, charitable Islamic organizations, mainly foreign, built almost 4 thousand mosques in Uzbekistan at their own expense (only 80 operated in Soviet times). At the same time, both Uzbek religious movements proper and foreign ones appeared in the country, including such as Hezb ut-Tahrir. In 1997, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan arose.
In December 1997, the Namangan events took place, when several Uzbek policemen and officials were killed (one person’s head was cut off). Authorities officially attributed this to the actions of radical Islamic movements. The five explosions that rocked Tashkent in 1999, resulting in the deaths of dozens of people, played the same role in creating the image of the enemy. There is still no final version of who is involved in them. But it was after 1999 that international observers noted an intensification of the Uzbek government’s struggle with those Muslim groups that did not recognize the government’s leadership role.
“When HRW talks about repressions against Muslims,” said Igor Vorontsov, “we mean independent believers who did not go to official mosques and studied the Koran at home. According to Uzbek law, this is considered completely illegal, and such people began to be actively persecuted already in the mid-nineties.
Meanwhile, in the Uzbek folk tradition, the home study of Islam plays a very important role, when groups of people voluntarily gather at the home of some wise mullah and discuss the Koran. But home religious teaching was strictly prohibited by the authorities, who started talking about the danger of Wahhabism. Discussion of the Koran outside the walls of official mosques has become equated with attempts to overthrow the constitutional order in Uzbekistan - this is evidenced by one of the articles of the national Criminal Code.
The events that took place in Andijan in 2005 were precisely connected with the so-called Akramiya society, which the official authorities also classified as Wahhabi. Religious thinker Akram Yuldashev wrote a short book in which he proposed a kind of social contract between the authorities and citizens on the principles of Islam, something like a new social teaching. A number of Andijan businessmen tried to create a community in which business people wanted to implement Yuldashev's principles. However, the authorities declared their activities extremist, the businessmen were arrested, and their families were subjected to repression. All this coincided with the most difficult economic situation in the country. As a result, for several days its residents gathered in the streets and squares of Andijan demanding improved living conditions, as well as the immediate release of disgraced businessmen.
The protesters called on Islam Karimov to listen to their demands and fairly deal with the situation. In response, the authorities sent troops to rebellious Andijan, who opened fire on civilians. According to official data, 180 people were killed, according to international observers, more than 400 were killed, and according to witnesses, the number of victims reached several thousand. As eyewitnesses said, soldiers were finishing off Andijan residents fleeing from the squares in remote streets and alleys.
The Council of Europe and international human rights organizations demanded an independent investigation, but Islam Karimov categorically refused to allow foreign observers into Uzbekistan. And then international sanctions were introduced against the country, restricting the entry of several high-ranking Uzbek officials into Europe, and partly trade with the republic. Unfortunately, the other day it became known that the EU is preparing to lift these sanctions, despite the fact that Uzbekistan has not complied with the demands of European human rights activists. In response to this decision, Amnesty International said it would seek an independent investigation - human rights activists say the killing of hundreds of people should not be forgotten.


Extremism with a beard
“According to the official version, the main signs of people who are suspected of extremist activity are the following: a long beard and reading prayer five times a day,” says Igor Vorontsov. “On such grounds, people are thrown into prison as extremists. Although in fact the main reason for the persecution is that these people do not glorify Karimov, do not go to mosques, where everything is monitored and recorded.
Even in prisons, religious prisoners are kept in separate rooms, under very strict conditions. If prison guards notice that detainees are saying prayers, they are punished even more severely, as HRW has received repeated reports from prisons. According to human rights organizations, there are between 10 and 15 thousand prisoners in prisons in Uzbekistan for religious beliefs. The authorities, according to Igor Vorontsov, drove all believers into mosques loyal to Karimov, demanding that all religious life take place only in the official field. Imams and mullahs must regularly confirm their loyalty to Karimov personally, and if they do not, they themselves mysteriously disappear or are officially arrested.
Several prominent spiritual leaders who have disappeared in recent years have never been found.
“Everyone who did not publicly swear allegiance to Karimov was called Wahhabis,” says Igor Vorontsov. — For group meetings not on the territory of the mosque, you can be subject to criminal prosecution. Human rights activists have facts where people received ten or twelve years in prison for studying the Koran at home. Moreover, it is a common practice that religious prisoners do not leave even after the expiration of their sentence: a few months before this, as in Soviet camps, they are given a new arrest for minor violations - for not buttoning a button, for saying hello incorrectly, 5-7 years are added. The trial is held right in the prison. The families of these prisoners are constantly harassed by the local police and members of local district councils - mahalas. True, according to the observations of human rights activists, there have been fewer arrests recently, although in 2008 there was another wave of such repressions.
“According to my observations, the real Islamic threat to Uzbekistan is much lower than the local government represents it,” says Igor Vorontsov. — In fact, Mr. Karimov is simply afraid of losing power. Therefore, despite the attempt to lift sanctions against Uzbekistan, international human rights organizations take a tough position - no government can shoot its citizens with impunity.

Natalya SHKURENOK