Uzbekistan: Is the country really changing?

Uzbekistan | 10 October 2017

In his first address to the United Nations General Assembly on 19 September 2017, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev has pledged to focus his government on bringing greater prosperity and human rights to both his nation and the Central Asian region, as reported by Radio Free Europe on 20 September 2017. On the issue of human rights, where Uzbekistan continues to attract criticism from UN bodies and human rights groups, Mirziyoev claimed to have made progress so far in his year in office. He said his goal was to build "a democratic state and a just society" where "human interests come first". Rolf Zeegers, persecution analyst at World Watch Research, concedes that in international politics changes have indeed taken place: "Uzbekistan has moved out of its self-chosen isolation and has worked hard to improve ties with all of its neighbors and Russia. But such progress has not been visible regarding human rights, despite the claims of President Mirziyoev. Political opposition is still impossible, and the number of people in jail hardly decreased." Rolf Zeegers continues: "Christians in Uzbekistan have also experienced remarkably few improvements, if any. There have been no changes in the restrictive Constitution and other legislation. The enormous level of state-control regarding obligatory registration, official permits being required for meetings and religious materials, the ban on ministry among youth under 18 years of age, and the continuing high number of raids, detentions and interrogations etc. clearly prove that any positive changes so far in Uzbekistan have hardly affected the life of Christians."