A/HRC/37/49/Add.2 non-coercive manner. This right also covers missionary activities, which similarly do not presuppose formal State approval, especially when carried out by citizens or permanent residents of a country. This right is also protected under the right to freedom of expression, which includes “freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of one’s choice”.1 C. Religious education 37. Article 7 of the 1998 Law states that the system of education in Uzbekistan is separated from religion and bans the inclusion of religious disciplines in the curriculum of the educational system. Hence, the State provides only secular education to its citizens irrespective of their attitude toward religion or their beliefs. 38. Article 9 of the 1998 Law bans any form of teaching of religious dogma that is not sanctioned by the State. It provides that the central administrative bodies of religious organizations are entitled to create religious educational institutions to train priests and other religious personnel. Religious educational institutions can only provide training when the Ministry of Justice issues the corresponding licence to them after their registration. Persons teaching religious subjects at religious educational establishments must have a religious qualification and must obtain permission from the appropriate agency of the central administration to carry out their work. 39. The ban on sharing beliefs is reinforced by article 241 of the Code of Administrative Offences and article 229 (2) of the Criminal Code, the latter of which punishes any teaching of religious beliefs without specialized religious education, without permission from the central organ of a registered religious organization or in private. Criminal sanctions range from fines of 50 to 100 times the minimum monthly wage, community service, corrective labour, restricted freedom or imprisonment for up to three years. 40. The ban on the teaching of religious principles privately resulted in many members of religious communities being fined for allegedly “illegally teaching one’s religion to another”, simply in the context of a few people gathered to discuss their faiths with each other or to exchange ideas on matters of religion. Religion hence became a taboo in conversations as no one wanted to risk being punished for “proselytism” or teaching religious principles in private. Reportedly, some official imams complained that they could not teach Islam to children as all religious education that was not controlled by the State was forbidden. 41. Regarding State-controlled religious education, so far, nine madrasas — equivalent to secondary-level special educational institutions — have been established in Tashkent (Kukaldosh Madrasa and Khadichai Kubro Madrasa (for women)), Bukhara (Mir-i-Arab Madrasa and Djuibory Kalon Madrasa (for women)), Andijan (Sayyid Muhyiddin Makhdum Madrasa), Namagan (Mulla Kyrgyz Madrasa), Kitab (Khoja Bukhari Madrasa), Urgench (Fahriddin ar-Roziy Madrasa) and Nukus (Muhammad al-Beruni Madrasa). In addition, there is a Mir-i-Arab Madrasa for higher education, as well as Tashkent Islamic Institute and Tashkent Islamic University (although, the latter is a secular institution). 42. Graduates of these institutions can work as an imam khatib (chief confessor), an imam, an assistant to an imam or an atina (woman conducting religious instruction and religious holiday ceremonies), as well as in spiritual and educational centres in State institutions. According to the officials, clerics from various religions, including the Shia community and the Jewish community, who obtained their qualifications abroad are allowed to officiate within licensed premises. 43. According to official figures, at present, there are a few hundred people studying in those Islamic educational institutions. This number is considerably low for a country with a population of 32.12 million and which is predominantly Muslim. After many years of requests from the public to the Spiritual Administration of the Muslims of Uzbekistan (an official body that controls and administers Islamic activities), 12 religious educational 1 8 See International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art. 19.