At the end of April 2020, two influential institutions stated that the situation in Uzbekistan has improved markedly since the election of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in December 2016:
- Bertelsmann Stiftung released its 2020 Transformation Index on 29 April 2020 and the opening paragraph of the Executive Summary is crystal clear: "The 2017 to 2018 period in Uzbekistan gave rise to a feeling of relief among the population. With the death of the first president of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, in September 2016 and the election of Shavkat Mirziyoyev as new president in December 2016, the so-called post-Soviet transition period had come to an end. The new president managed to create a new image as the leader of the country and as a reformer. His reformist activities are comprehensive and embrace almost all spheres of the country's life - the economy, culture, education, justice, security, human rights, civil society, religion, salaries, taxes, infrastructure and foreign policy. The only sphere that remains mostly apart is the political system, although some initial modest steps have been taken."
- On 28 April 2020 the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released its annual report. In it, USCIRF scaled down its recommendation to the US government stating that Uzbekistan should no longer be considered a "˜Country of Particular Concern" but be put instead on the "˜Special Watch List". This is in line with the decision taken by the US State Department last year.
Rolf Zeegers, persecution analyst at World Watch Research, thinks it is remarkable that both institutions reach the conclusion that the situation in Uzbekistan has improved over the last few years. Bertelsmann sees an opening up of society - away from the traditional Soviet-style dictatorial regime. USCIRF is a bit less enthusiastic: On the one hand USCIRF states that "˜in 2019, religious freedom conditions in Uzbekistan trended positively", but also mentions that "˜some issues saw little to no improvement or experienced backsliding". Further: "˜Although eight minority communities were registered during the year, many religious minorities, such as some Catholics, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Protestants, remained unable to register because of their small numbers or local opposition.""
Rolf Zeegers concludes: "The fact is that local Christians have experienced very little improvement at the grass-roots level. It is true that President Mirziyoyev is doing his very best to polish up his country"s image and remove the "˜stains" his country had acquired during President Karimov"s administration. But Christians still note that they are being monitored. The existing legal restrictions have not been lifted. Registration permits are still very difficult to obtain. Raids on unregistered religious meetings still occur. It therefore seems far too early to make any claims about major improvements to religious freedom in Uzbekistan."
