Watchdog

A United Nations expert has called on the Uzbek government to enact reforms that would allow citizens to practice their faiths freely, saying that strengthening diversity and freedom of religion can help combat religious extremism.

The UN special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Ahmed Shaheed, made the comments in a statement issued on October 12, after concluding a 11-day official visit to Uzbekistan.

"Religions or beliefs should not be seen as a threat to Uzbekistan, where many ethnic and religious communities live together peacefully," Shaheed said.

He also said the rights to freedom of religion or belief "cannot be sacrificed in preventing or countering violent extremism."

Shaheed said that what he called President Shavkat Mirziyoev’s recent efforts to reform could be a turning point in Uzbekistan's development, if the moves are implemented systematically.

Mirziyoev took the reins of government in one of post-Soviet Central Asia's more repressive systems last year, following the death of longtime autocrat Islam Karimov.

Mirziyoev won a five-year term in a tightly controlled presidential election in December. Since then, he has taken steps to reduce Uzbekistan's isolation.

His government has released some people widely seen as political prisoners, taken steps to improve ties with neighboring Central Asian countries, and established channels aimed at improving communication between citizens and the authorities.

However, the Forum 18 News Service, an agency monitoring religious freedom in the former Soviet republics and Eastern Europe, said last month that freedoms of religion or belief, expression, association, and assembly remain "seriously restricted" in Uzbekistan.

"These restrictions on human rights are part of the regime's intentional systemic policy to control every aspect of society," it said. "This is why followers of all religions and beliefs -- with no exceptions -- face freedom of religion or belief violations.”

Shaheed said Uzbekistan faces many human rights challenges and will require sustained commitment to make the right to freedom of religion or belief a reality.

Along with legal reforms, the Uzbek government needs to embrace an "operational" approach to human rights, including institutional and policy reforms, he added.

"Freedom of religion or belief requires widening the space for the freedom of association, peaceful assembly and expression, as well as strengthening the rule of law and guaranteeing the independence of the judiciary," according to Shaheed.

He also said that freedom of conscience, thought, religion, or belief is “overregulated, if not restricted,” in Uzbekistan.

"Religious communities can only function within the given limits of registration and the authorities tend to stay watchful of all religious activities," the special rapporteur said.

Shaheed insisted that people "should not have to activate auto self-censorship whenever they speak of religion or practice their faiths."

During his mission to Uzbekistan, Shaheed met government officials, local authorities, representatives of ethnic and religious communities, civil society organizations, and the diplomatic community, the statement said.

He is due to present a report containing his conclusions and recommendations to the UN Human Rights Council in March 2018.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has expressed concerns over articles in Ukraine’s new education law relating to teaching in minority languages.

In addition, several European Union diplomats told RFE/RL on October 13 that Hungary will bring up the law when EU foreign ministers meet on October 16 in Luxembourg.

Meeting in plenary session in Strasbourg on October 12, the PACE voted for a resolution criticizing the new legislation, saying it "does not appear to strike an appropriate balance between the official language and the languages of national minorities."

"In particular, the new law entails a heavy reduction in the rights previously recognized to 'national minorities' concerning their own language of education," they said.

EU diplomats told RFE/RL that Hungary had threatened to review the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement that entered into force on September 1. Since this can only be done by unanimous agreement of all EU members, Hungary instead said it will bring up the issue at the Luxembourg meeting.

Hungary also included the issue in the Eastern Partnership declaration that EU ambassadors agreed to on October 11 and that leaders plan to issue at the Eastern Partnership summit in Brussels on November 24.

The draft text says parties should "ensure respect for rights already exercised of persons belonging to national minorities as enshrined in UN and Council of Europe conventions and related protocols."

The EU officials also said Budapest would consider pushing for tough language on the matter during an EU-Ukraine association council session in December if the issue remains outstanding.

Poland and Romania, which both expressed concerns about Ukraine's education law, have not joined Hungary in any of the actions, the officials said.

After days of criticism from Ukraine’s ethnic minorities and its neighbors, President Petro Poroshenko on September 25 signed the legislation into law, which makes Ukrainian the required language of study in state schools from the fifth grade on.

The law does not outlaw instruction in languages other than Ukrainian, and students can still learn their native languages as a separate subject.

But the new law's language requirement overturns a 2012 law that allowed for minorities to introduce their languages in regions where they represented more than 10 percent of the population.

No 'Real Consultation'

PACE said that the new law was adopted without "real consultation with representatives of national minorities."

It also expressed dissatisfaction that Ukrainian authorities submitted the text of the bill to the Council of Europe's Venice Commission of legal experts for an opinion only after its adoption by lawmakers.

The assembly urged the authorities "to fully implement the forthcoming recommendations and conclusions of the Venice Commission and to modify the new Education Act accordingly."

In signing the bill, Poroshenko insisted that it was "in harmony with European standards" and "ensures equal opportunities for all," according to a statement on the presidential website.

But that hasn’t assuaged the concerns of groups such as Poles, Romanians, and Hungarians, all of whom have sizable ethnic communities in Ukraine. The law has also incensed officials in other countries neighboring Ukraine as well, particularly Russia and Hungary.

On October 12 in Budapest, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Hungary will continue with withhold support for Ukraine's further integration with the European Union as long as the law remains unchanged.

"We consider the new Ukrainian education law a stab in the back of our country," he said.

He was speaking at a joint news conference with his Ukrainian counterpart, Pavlo Klimkin, who said that not knowing the native language made it hard for minorities to be successful in Ukraine.

"Everyone needs the opportunity to fulfill themselves in their country of citizenship," Klimkin said. "But this is not possible without knowing the language."

He added that "not a single school" would be closed or "a single teacher" dismissed because of the new language requirement.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry has said that the law is designed to "forcefully establish a mono-ethnic language regime in a multinational state." Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said that Ukraine "stabbed Hungary in the back" with the law.

With reporting by AP and Reuters