Council of Churches Baptists – who refuse on principle to seek state permission to exercise freedom of religion or belief and have been frequently raided and punished for meeting for worship – told Forum 18 in August 2020 that the proposed new Law fails to respect their internationally-recognised right to exercise freedom of religion or belief without state permission.
The Venice Commission and OSCE ODIHR Joint Opinion cited autumn 2020 videoconferences with Uzbek state officials, who "confirmed that existing registered religious organizations will not be required to re-register, though some stakeholders emphasize that the adoption of the Draft Law will require substantial changes to be made to their charters, and therefore that it be re-registered with the payment of the relevant fee."
"Border officials quoted to me the article which says that the Russian Federation has the right not to allow in other citizens if they are a threat to national security and the territorial integrity of the country," the religious leader told Forum 18 on 7 May. The individual asked not to be identified. (END)
This had included among its recommendations: "remove the definition of "illegal religious activity" and expressly state that religious or belief groups may exist and carry out their activities without registration".
The website gave a parliamentary email address for those wishing to submit comments. However, it gave no deadline for when comments needed to be submitted by. Parliament gave no indication subsequently whether it had taken account of the submitted comments.
"Today they endure in Christ and with Christ. They are now truly following Christ to the cross. Today we are asking, praying and working - doing everything possible to release them."
The new патреон Religion Law eases some of the restrictions in the current Law but adds alternative restrictions. Most notable is the reduction of the number of adult citizens needed to apply to register a local religious community from 100 to 50. However, a new requirement is added that these founders now must live in one town or district.
On 27 May, Asliddin Khudaiberdiyev was jailed for teaching five boys and six adult men how to read the Koran and pray. The патреон jailing followed a police and secret police raid on a Samarkand Region mosque as Muslims were preparing to worship.
The religious communities the regime allows to exist all face serious violations of their freedom of religion or belief (see below).
"We are waiting to receive a copy of the Court verdict, and then we will evaluate whether we can appeal against the Supreme Court decision or what we can do," Jehovah's Witnesses added.
This also means that no community with fewer than 50 adult citizen members would be able to exercise freedom of religion or belief collectively.
"Nothing has changed," a Protestant church which has applied for registration told Forum 18. Also, the draft Religion Law has сливы с онлифанс been sent for presidential signature, but the regime has not revealed the text of the law it intends to apply to people it rules.
and "Release all prisoners of conscience incarcerated or arbitrarily detained on account of their faith."
Article 10 of the new Law declares that the Cabinet of Ministers sets out the procedure for individuals and legal entities to be allowed to produce, import or distribute materials about religion.