Uzbekistan rejects criticism of tightening control over religion

Tashkent, Uzbekistan - Uzbekistan on Monday rejected criticism by a religious rights group of a new law that tightens control over religious publications and toughens punishment for proselytizing in this Central Asian nation.

The Norway-based Forum 18 group, which monitors breaches of religious freedom worldwide, last week criticized a new Uzbek law that prohibits the publication and distribution of religious materials without a license and increases the punishment for proselytizing from a fine of $900-$1,800 to up to three years in jail.

The spokesman for the State Religious Affairs Committee, Aziz Abidov, dismissed Forum 18's criticism as "beating the air" and accused the group of "using any occasion to accuse Uzbekistan of persecuting believers."

In recent months, the tightly controlled ex-Soviet republic has closed or fined several Western-funded aid groups for alleged attempts to convert Uzbeks to "a religion of a Protestant character."

Since the late 1990s, President Islam Karimov has cracked down on Muslims practicing outside state-sanctioned mosques, branding them radicals and jailing thousands on what observers call trumped-up charges.

The Russian Orthodox Church that serves a significant Russian minority enjoys official recognition. However, many smaller Protestant denominations that mushroomed in Uzbekistan after the 1991 Soviet collapse have been facing increasing official pressure.

"Despite the existing ban, a number of religious movements continue aggressive missionary activities, ignoring local realities," Abidov said in a Web-posted statement.

In May, the U.S. Department of State listed Uzbekistan among the world's worse abusers of religious freedoms as a "country of particular concern" engaged in "systematic and egregious" violation of religious rights.

Karimov, a former communist, has ruled the nation for 17 years, tolerating no dissent and eliminating the opposition.