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Observers Remain Skeptical as Uzbek Government Says Religious Extremism
Rising

Asim Kashgarian

   WASHINGTON - Uzbekistan's State Security Service says there is a
   revival of religious extremist activities in the Central Asian country,
   but the government's history of alleging extremism accusations to
   target political opposition has led some observers to view the warning
   with suspicion.

   The country's security body in recent months has announced several
   operations against extremist activities, including an operation on
   September 8 in the capital, Tashkent. Six Uzbek citizens were detained
   for allegedly distributing material on Telegram, the encrypted
   messaging app, to "call for and encourage going to Syria to join the
   ranks of an international terrorist organization."

   Uzbekistan has a population of nearly 33 million, with about 94%
   identifying as Muslims, according to the country's Ministry of Foreign
   Affairs. Of the remaining population, 3.5% of the population identifies
   as Russian Orthodox. The remaining roughly 3% includes small
   communities of Catholics, ethnic Korean Christians, other denominations
   of Christian faith, Buddhists, Baha'is, members of the International
   Society of Krishna Consciousness, and atheists.

   Like some of its neighboring countries, which gained independence from
   the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, Uzbekistan has been accused by
   rights organizations of restricting basic religious practices. The
   Uzbek government, however, says freedom of religion is guaranteed
   through its constitution and that its measures are merely to separate
   religion from the state, as well as uproot violent extremism that has
   been a threat for decades.

   Uzbek officials have not disclosed the number of people arrested in
   recent sweeps. According to the country's interior ministry, they
   mostly involved adherents of banned Islamist groups, Hizb ut-Tahrir and
   Jihodchilar.

   Banned groups

   Hizb ut-Tahrir, or Party of Liberation, is an international
   pan-Islamist movement founded in 1953 by Taqiuddin al-Nabhani in
   Jerusalem with the aims of restoring the Islamic caliphate system.
   Despite its rejection of violence to establish a caliphate, individuals
   affiliated with the group have been linked to several attacks in
   different countries.

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