A/HRC/37/49/Add.2 I. Introduction 1. The present report reflects the findings of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Ahmed Shaheed, from his visit to Uzbekistan from 2 to 12 October 2017. The Special Rapporteur acknowledges the full cooperation extended to him by the Government in accommodating all his requests for meetings and granting him unimpeded access to various institutions, including Jaslyk Prison. He would like to thank the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Human Rights Centre for their coordination efforts, and extends cordial thanks to the United Nations Development Programme office in Tashkent and the regional presence of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Bishkek for their support. The Special Rapporteur appreciated all the constructive meetings held with interlocutors from Government agencies, civil society organizations and religious communities in Tashkent, Fergana, Bukhara and Nukus, and at Jaslyk Prison, which gave him insight to their experience, assessments and visions. The Special Rapporteur highly appreciated the opportunity to call on President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and notes the constructive spirit with which his initial findings were received by the authorities. 2. President Mirziyoyev is leading a number of reforms in accordance with the 2017– 2021 Action Strategy for the development of five priority areas, of which, area V covers religious tolerance and inter-ethnic harmony. According to the President, “human interests come first” is the principle underlying the implementation of the Action Strategy. 3. The Government has been responsive in recent engagements with the international community with regard to fulfilling its international obligations and commitments. In order to implement agreements reached during the visit of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to Uzbekistan, in May 2017, the Council of the Legislative Chamber and the Council of the Senate of the Supreme Assembly (Oliy Majlis) jointly approved an action plan on the development of further cooperation with OHCHR. As part of that cooperation, the invitation extended to the mandate holder on freedom of religion or belief to visit the country was a welcomed initiative. 4. During his visit, the Special Rapporteur did not merely look into restrictions on freedom of religion or belief within the national legal framework or societal structure, but also examined less visible, subtle discriminatory policies and the rights of religious minorities. He noted the State’s efforts in promoting religious literacy and freedom, sought good practices in the area and assessed the State’s ability to provide an inclusive space for different religions or beliefs and for everyone to freely manifest their faith in private or in public. The Special Rapporteur was also keen to assess the scope of the ongoing and professed reforms by addressing the challenges that people faced in their enjoyment of the right to freedom of religion or belief. II. Religion before and after independence 5. Many interlocutors reiterated that Uzbekistan was still a young nation despite its history dating as far back as the first millennium B.C. From 1924 until 1991 — when Uzbekistan declared its independence — the Soviet Union implemented a policy of “State atheism” that severely restricted the manifestation of religion or belief. 6. The relationship between religion and State changed a little in post-Soviet Uzbekistan. The Muslim Board of Uzbekistan was established after the decentralization of the Spiritual Administration of the Muslims of Central Asia and Kazakhstan in 1992, however, it performs more or less the same functions as the Soviet-era board. 7. In the initial years after independence, there was a resurgence of religion in public and social life, including an influx of Salafi and Sufi missionaries. In 1992, in Namangan, a group of Salafists allegedly took control of a government building and demanded that then President, Islam Karimov, declare Uzbekistan an Islamic state and introduce the sharia system. They were unsuccessful and Salafi missionaries were expelled from the country, while the activities of Sufi missionaries were restricted. 3