A/HRC/37/49/Add.2 IV. Regulation of religions 23. Details of the scope of and limitations on the exercise of the freedom of religion or belief are set out in the 1998 Law. The Law criminalizes unregistered religious activity, requires official approval of the content, production and distribution of religious publications, and prohibits proselytism and other missionary activities. A. Registration 24. Article 8 of the 1998 Law states that religious organizations, such as religious societies, religious educational institutions, mosques, churches, synagogues, cloisters and so on are recognized as voluntary associations of citizens, established for the purposes of joint practice of religion, execution of divine services, devotions and rituals. Religious organizations can carry out activities only after registration with the Ministry of Justice. Any religious activity, including meetings of young people unrelated to worship, by unregistered religious organizations is deemed illegal under article 240 of the Code of Administrative Offences and article 216 (2), part 1, of the Criminal Code. Criminal sanctions carry a fine of between 50 and 100 times the minimum wage, community service, restricted freedom of between one and three years or up to three years’ imprisonment. 25. Registration requirements laid down in article 11 of the 1998 Law are rather stringent and complex in its procedure and discriminatory against the majority of religious minorities. The creation of a religious organization requires no less than 100 adult Uzbek citizens domiciled in Uzbekistan who are willing to be identified as founders and to supply their personal details to the authorities. However, the Special Rapporteur was told that the Committee for Religious Affairs had, in some cases, approved the registration of certain religious communities that did not have 100 members. 26. Religious organizations of a relevant confession may create a central body to coordinate its activities if they are registered in at least eight territorial regions of Uzbekistan. The Russian Orthodox, the Baptist Union and the Catholic Church have been able to create such central administrative bodies, while some other religious groups have failed to secure registration even in a single region. 27. Besides those requirements, applicants must obtain written approvals from the district administrations (Hokimat) and the neighbourhood committees (Mahalla) as well as the concurrence of the Committee for Religious Affairs before they can apply for registration with the Ministry of Justice. Applicants are also required to pay a nonrefundable registration fee equivalent to 50 times the minimum monthly wage. 28. Several new and long-standing minority religious groups, such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, reported struggling to obtain registration in several regions despite multiple attempts. They were in despair as their activities were subject to criminal sanctions, hence, de facto deprived of the legal right to worship as provided for in the Constitution. From September 2016 to July 2017, at least 185 police raids on religious meetings and searches of private homes of Jehovah’s Witnesses were carried out. Reportedly, 153 individuals were convicted for religious activities, while 148 received fines for administrative offences of up to 100 times the monthly minimum wage and 7 were jailed for religious activities. Even registered Jehovah’s Witnesses could face random interrogations or arbitrary arrests and other forms of harassment owing to prejudice against them by the authorities. 29. Some interlocutors also reported that law enforcement officers not only raided meetings of unregistered groups, but also detained their members and confiscated all religious literature. Those detained were often charged with unauthorized religious activity such as worshipping, teaching, proselytizing or possessing unauthorized religious material, and imposed administrative fines. In Uzbekistan, worshipping as a group can only take place in registered premises or one may worship alone in the privacy of one’s home. 30. Religious communities are unable to freely buy, build or establish places of worship. Authorities sometimes confiscated or stripped the registration of certain rural mosques, places of worship and religious communities for unspecified reasons. The Special 6