Uzbekistan & Central Asia
Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan treat independent Muslim practice as a threat. In Uzbekistan government forces killed hundreds of people in Andijan in May 2005, religious prisoners died in Jaslyk prison, and USCIRF estimated over 2,000 Muslims still jailed for their faith in 2021, with children kept out of mosques. Tajikistan forcibly shaved men's beards (nearly 13,000 in Khatlon in 2015), stopped women in hijab, closed 1,938 mosques in 2017, bans under-18s from religious events, closed the madrassahs, and in 2024 banned the hijab by law; Ismaili prayer houses in Badakhshan were shut in 2022. Turkmenistan bulldozed mosques in Ashgabat, shaves young men's beards and jails Muslims for 12–15 years for studying religious books.
Key numbers
Who is responsible
Uzbekistan: the government and security forces under President Islam Karimov at Andijan, police, courts and prison authorities; Tajikistan: President Emomali Rahmon's government, police, the State Committee on Religious Affairs and courts; Turkmenistan: the government, police and Ministry of State Security.
Timeline
- 1999 Jaslyk prison opens in Uzbekistan
- 2002 Two Muslim prisoners die in Jaslyk, one apparently boiled
- 2005 Andijan massacre
- 2011 Tajikistan bans under-18s from religious events
- 2013 Tajik madrassahs closed; Turkmenabat Muslims jailed
- 2015 Tajik beard-shaving campaign; IRP banned
- 2016 Ashgabat's Aksa mosque bulldozed
- 2017 1,938 Tajik mosques closed; five Turkmen Nursi readers get 12 years
- 2019 Jaslyk closed; Turkmen beard campaign
- 2022 Ismaili prayer houses closed in Badakhshan
- 2024 Tajikistan bans the hijab by law
- 2025 Ismaili leader Davlatmirov dies in Tajik prison
Records (37)
Jaslyk prison
Jaslyk prison opened in 1999 in a former Soviet chemical-weapons test base to hold people arrested after the Tashkent bombings; former inmates described widespread torture. HRW estimated 5,000–7,000 held there in 2012. It was closed in 2019.
Source: Wikipedia: Jaslyk Prison
Two religious prisoners die in Jaslyk
The bodies of Muzafar Avazov and Husnidin Alimov, jailed for alleged Hizb ut-Tahrir membership and religious materials, were returned from Jaslyk prison on 8 August 2002; doctors said Avazov's burns could only come from immersion in boiling water.
2 killed
Arrests of devout Muslims after Andijan
In the year after Andijan, rights defenders reported a sharp rise in arrests of devout Muslims with no link to political movements; in spring 2006 a prisoner near Navoi got 15 days in an isolation cell for praying.
Andijan massacre
On 13 May 2005 Uzbek government forces fired into crowds in Bobur Square, Andijan, some from armoured vehicles, and kept firing as people fled. The government said 173 (later 187) died, including attackers; HRW said hundreds were killed and the OSCE estimated 300–500.
187–500 killed
Source: HRW: Uzbekistan: New report documents massacre · Forum 18: Uzbekistan: One year on from Andijan
Imam Atageldi dies in labour camp
Atageldi aga, imam of an unregistered Sunni mosque in Ashgabat's Khitrovka district, was arrested in September 2008 and died in a labour camp near Turkmenabat in 2013; his body was never returned.
1 killed
Source: Forum 18: Turkmenistan religious freedom survey, January 2017
Under-18s banned from religious events
Tajikistan's 2011 Parental Responsibility Law bans anyone under 18 from religious events except funerals. On 1 September 2017, Id al-Adha, schoolchildren were made to attend school.
Source: Forum 18: Tajikistan religious freedom survey, January 2016 · Forum 18: Tajikistan religious freedom survey, December 2020
Bahram Saparov and about 20 others jailed
Sunni leader Bahram Saparov and about 20 others in Turkmenabat were arrested on 9 March 2013 and convicted at a closed trial in May 2013; Saparov got concurrent 15-year terms and was last seen alive in 2014.
21 detained
Source: Forum 18: Turkmenistan religious freedom survey, January 2017
Madrassahs closed
From July 2013 all madrassahs except one were forcibly closed after a speech by President Rahmon; the last was suspended in June 2015 and none had reopened by December 2023.
Source: Forum 18: Tajikistan religious freedom survey, January 2016 · Forum 18: Tajikistan religious freedom survey, December 2023
Ovadan-Depe prison
Ovadan-Depe prison, about 70 km north of Ashgabat in the Karakum desert, holds "Wahhabi" prisoners in a closed section without visits; a witness said riot police came weekly to beat prisoners in 2014.
Source: Forum 18: Turkmenistan religious freedom survey, January 2017
Nilufar Rahimjanova dies in labour camp
Nilufar Rahimjanova, 37, died in September 2014 in a women's labour camp near Tashkent, serving a 10-year term that relatives say was meant to pressure her husband and father, Muslim theologians abroad.
1 killed
Source: Forum 18: Uzbekistan religious freedom survey, September 2017
Extra prison term for Bukhara Muslim
Botir Tukhtamurodov in Bukhara received an extra three-year term in 2015 just after finishing six years; such extra terms for alleged prison-rule breaches are common for Muslim prisoners.
1 detained
Source: Forum 18: Uzbekistan religious freedom survey, September 2017
Police shave 13,000 beards in Khatlon
Khatlon's police chief said in January 2016 that police had shaved nearly 13,000 people's beards in 2015, persuaded more than 1,700 women and girls to stop wearing headscarves and closed over 160 shops selling Muslim clothing. Forum 18 reports forced shaving nationwide from March 2015.
Source: Al Jazeera: Tajikistan shaves 13,000 men's beards · Forum 18: Tajikistan religious freedom survey, January 2016
Women in hijab stopped on state TV
After President Rahmon condemned "uncharacteristic" dress on 6 March 2015, state TV showed police stopping 10 women in hijabs on a Dushanbe street and calling them prostitutes; women in hijab were turned away at kindergartens.
Source: Forum 18: Tajikistan religious freedom survey, December 2020 · Forum 18: Tajikistan religious freedom survey, December 2023
Islamic Renaissance Party banned, leaders jailed
The Justice Ministry banned the Islamic Renaissance Party on 28 August 2015 and more than 10 senior figures were arrested; Forum 18 lists them as prisoners of conscience. IRP co-founder Imam Zubaydullo Rozik is held in Vahdat prison and repeatedly put in punishment cells.
10 detained
Source: Forum 18: Tajikistan religious freedom survey, January 2016 · Forum 18: Tajikistan religious freedom survey, December 2023
Jailed for filming police forcing women in hijab onto bus
Okil Sharipov was arrested in Isfara on 20 February 2016 for filming police forcing women in hijabs onto a bus, and was jailed for one year on 26 May 2016; he was amnestied in August 2016.
1 detained
Source: Forum 18: Tajikistan religious freedom survey, December 2020
Aksa mosque bulldozed
The Aksa Sunni mosque in Ashgabat was bulldozed in April 2016 without consultation or compensation, the eighth of 14 Ashgabat mosques destroyed in recent years.
8 mosques & sacred places destroyed
Source: Forum 18: Turkmenistan religious freedom survey, January 2017
Sufi community leaders jailed in Karakul
In June 2016 four leaders of a Sufi Naqshbandi community in Karakul District were jailed for four years after 15 Sufis were arrested in a home raid; 11 others were fined in July 2016.
4 detained
Source: Forum 18: Uzbekistan religious freedom survey, September 2017
Children barred from mosques at Ramadan
In Ramadan 2016 teachers and police at mosque entrances in Tashkent and Andijan turned away under-18s, and in Andijan parents were asked to sign letters promising to keep children out of mosques.
Source: Forum 18: Uzbekistan religious freedom survey, September 2017
1,938 mosques closed in one year
Tajikistan's religious affairs committee announced on 5 February 2018 that 1,938 mosques were closed in 2017 and turned to secular uses, including in Isfara and Bobojon-Gofurov District.
Source: Forum 18: Tajikistan religious freedom survey, December 2020
Five Nursi readers jailed for 12 years
On 15 August 2017 Balkan Regional Court in Balkanabat sentenced five Sunni Muslims who studied Said Nursi's works to 12 years in strict-regime labour camps; Myratdurdy Shamyradow was almost paralysed in prison by 2025.
5 detained
Source: Forum 18: Muslim prisoners of conscience transferred to new labour camps · Forum 18: First conscientious objector punishment since 2021
Roadblock against beards and hijabs
On 28 September 2018 police set up a roadblock on the Vahdat road outside Dushanbe to stop bearded men and women in hijabs; bearded men were forced into a barber's shop.
Source: Forum 18: Tajikistan religious freedom survey, December 2020
Campaign to shave young men's beards
In January 2019 police in Ashgabat and Lebap Region stepped up a campaign against men under 40 with beards, forcibly shaving some; in December 2019 the campaign against women in hijab was intensified in Mary Region.
20 women detained for hijabs in Dushanbe
In December 2019 about 20 women were detained in Dushanbe for wearing hijabs; Nilufar Rajabova was fined 550 Somonis, upheld on 4 April 2020.
20 detained
Source: Forum 18: Tajikistan religious freedom survey, December 2020
Nuri Islom mosque made a cinema
The Nuri Islom (Light of Islam) mosque in Khujand was confiscated and turned into a cinema in January 2020, despite protests by local Muslims.
Source: Forum 18: Tajikistan religious freedom survey, December 2020 · Forum 18: Tajikistan religious freedom survey, December 2023
12 years for alleged Tabligh Jamaat membership
A Dushanbe court sentenced Sadriddin Mulloyev, 35, to 12 years in strict-regime custody on 2 January 2020 for alleged former Tabligh Jamaat membership.
1 detained
Source: Forum 18: Tajikistan religious freedom survey, December 2020
Muslims detained and forcibly shaved in Farap
In mid-January 2021 police in Farap detained about 10 Muslim men, shaved one man's beard, forced him to drink vodka ("Drink if you're not a Wahhabi") and fined him; about 10 more were arrested at a prayer gathering on 15 January.
10–20 detained
Police stop children at mosque doors
In Ramadan 2021 the Interior Minister said 22,000 children had attended Tarawih and their number would be "gradually" cut. In May 2021 police in Bukhara stopped a 16-year-old at a mosque entrance; head teachers were told to keep children away.
Source: Forum 18: Uzbekistan religious freedom survey, November 2021
Raid on Khoja-Ziadin mosque
Police raided the Khoja-Ziadin mosque in Samarkand Region in May 2021 where Asliddin Khudaiberdiyev taught Koran and prayer; he got 15 days and an eight-year-old was questioned.
1 detained
Source: Forum 18: Uzbekistan religious freedom survey, November 2021
Imam jailed for refusing state sermon
Imam Mahmadsodyk Sayidov of Nonvoyi Poyon mosque in Kulob was arrested after refusing to read a state-written sermon and jailed for 5 years on 4 June 2021, with two other men.
3 detained
Source: Forum 18: Tajikistan religious freedom survey, December 2023
Beard shaved off in detention, Tashkent
Fazilkhoja Arifkhojayev was arrested after an incident at Tukhtaboy Mosque in Tashkent on 26 June 2021, given 15 days, had his beard shaved off and was tortured, then held in pre-trial detention.
1 detained
Source: Forum 18: Uzbekistan religious freedom survey, November 2021
Over 2,000 Muslims jailed for religion
USCIRF estimated in October 2021 that more than 2,000 Muslims are jailed for their faith in Uzbekistan; Forum 18 says the true number is unknown. Prisoners report beatings for praying.
2,000 detained
Source: Forum 18: Uzbekistan religious freedom survey, November 2021
Ismaili prayer houses closed in Badakhshan
In May 2022, after security forces killed three local leaders, all Ismaili prayer houses in Mountainous Badakhshan were closed. Ismaili leader Muzaffar Davlatmirov was jailed for 5 years on 3 August 2022.
Source: Forum 18: Tajikistan religious freedom survey, December 2023
Imam and 12 men jailed for teaching Islam
Imam Mukhammadi Mukharramov, arrested with 12 men on 2 November 2022 for privately teaching Islam, was jailed for 8 years by Dushanbe's Ismoili Somoni court on 23 March 2023; the 12 got 6–9 years.
13 detained
Decree denies burial rites to those killed by security forces
A decree signed on 28 April 2023 denies families of people killed in "counterterrorism" operations religious burial and the right to know where they are buried.
Source: Forum 18: Decree bans funerals for alleged 'terrorists'
Raids and imam detained for teaching children
On 18–19 August 2023 police raided Muslim homes in Turkmenbashi and Balkan Region, seizing hadith books and Russian Koran translations; the MSS detained an elderly imam in Gumdag for teaching Islam to about 50 children.
1 detained
Law bans hijab and children's Eid visits
Tajikistan's parliament passed a law banning "alien garments", mainly the hijab, and children's Eid celebrations (idgardak): the lower house on 8 May and the upper house on 19 June 2024.
Source: RFE/RL: Tajik parliament's upper chamber approves bill banning hijab
Ismaili leader dies in prison
Ismaili religious leader Muzaffar Davlatmirov, 61, died on 26 June 2025 in Yavan prison after requests to move him to hospital were refused.
1 killed
Source: Forum 18: Denial of 'qualified medical care' led to Ismaili leader's prison death?