Uzbekistan Barring Students in Islamic Attire From Schools and Universities

By R. Clemente Holder

Schools and universities throughout Uzbekistan are closing their doors to Muslim men with beards and women in headscarves, Human Rights Watch reported on Oct. 20.

In a new report about Uzbekistan, Human Rights Watch documented a pernicious form of religious discrimination practiced by the government against Muslims. The report, Class Dismissed: Discriminatory Expulsions of Muslim Students, describes the government’s zero-tolerance policy toward orthodox Muslim dress and appearance. Government officials have unceremoniously expelled the students from schools and universities. Most of those expelled were girls and young women.

“The government of Uzbekistan is assaulting religious freedom from all sides,” said Holly Cartner, executive director of the Europe and Central Asia division of Human Rights Watch. “The expulsion of Muslim students is yet another aspect of this campaign.”

In some cases, university officials have joined state security agents to intimidate and harass orthodox Muslim students who persisted in wearing religious attire, and their families. The Ministry of State Security (the successor to the KGB of the former Soviet Union) has threatened some students, and warned their parents of being fired from their jobs.

Since late 1997, police and security forces have arrested thousands of Muslims who do not adhere to officially sanctioned Islam or do not attend government-approved mosques. Observers say police have planted evidence on suspects and beaten detainees, and judges have presided over blatantly unfair trials, ignoring police misdeeds and convicting men on the basis of their religious beliefs.

The Uzbek government has claimed that the students’ religious attire identifies them as members of so-called “Wahabi” sects seeking to establish an Islamic state. Yet none of the students claimed affiliation with “Wahabism” (the strict “Unitarian” school of Sunni Islam practiced in Saudi Arabia), and none was charged with any violent act or with disrupting public order.

Last month, the U.S. State Department criticized Uzbekistan for its religious practices in its first report on religious freedom around the world. Prior to the report’s release, the Uzbek government released five Christians imprisoned for their religious beliefs. It did not release any Muslim detainees. The report can be found at <http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/uzbekistan>.

Further information may be obtained from Cassandra Cavanaugh in New York at (212) 216-1271 or Acacia Shields in Tashkent at +998712-56-02-53, or +998712-56-17-13.

R. Clemente Holder writes on international affairs from Washington, DC.