UZBEKISTAN: Demands to reopen, not demolish, church and mosque
By Mushfig Bayram
Forum 18 (06.12.2024) – Urgench Council of Churches Baptist Church and Tashkent’s Shaykhontohur District Imam al-Bukhari Mosque are being simultaneously demolished. The Baptist Church is being demolished by the Bailiff’s Department, and the Mosque by an unknown person or company with the full co-operation of the regime. By 5 December most of the roof, walls, and floors of the Baptist Church were destroyed, and most of the walls, roof, and dome of the Mosque were destroyed. Baptists and Muslims in both cities insist to Forum 18 that they want the demolitions stopped and their buildings returned, so they can use them to meet for worship.
On 25 April 2024, two buildings under construction belonging to Urgench Council of Churches Baptists were ordered to be destroyed and were partially demolished. The demolition was halted after protests, but the Baptists were not permitted to repair the damage or complete the construction of the buildings. Regime officials stated, though, that they are “determined to complete the demolition sooner or later”. This threat is now being carried out.
On 4 December, Bailiffs came with police and demolition vehicles and equipment to destroy the buildings. By 5 December most of the roof, walls, and floors of the Baptist Church were destroyed. The regime is “intent on tearing down the second building after finishing the destruction of the first building”, Baptists said.
On 2 December, the person Baptists bought the land for their Church from received a letter from Dovron Aitov of Urgench Bailiffs Department that the Department will demolish the buildings, Baptists who wish to remain anonymous for fear of state reprisals told Forum 18. None of the other owners of buildings on adjoining land bought from him are being threatened with demolition.
Local Baptists told Forum 18 that both the buildings, one of which was close to completion for use as a church, are one-storey buildings which are each about 270 square meters (2,900 square feet) in area. Local Baptists insist to Forum 18 that they want the demolition stopped and their buildings restored, so they can use them to meet for worship.
Neither Bailiff Aitov, nor Khorasm Regional Bailiffs Department, nor the Land Cadastre Department answered their phones whenever Forum 18 called between 5 and 6 December.
Tashkent’s Shaykhontohur District’s Muhammad Ismoil Mosque, known locally as the Imam al-Bukhari Mosque, is also being demolished at the same time as the Urgench Baptist Church. The building is being demolished by an unknown company or person with the full co-operation of the regime, Muslims who wished to remain anonymous for fear of state reprisals told Forum 18.
Sometimes the Mosque had as many as 2,000 Muslims coming to worship before it was closed, local Muslims told Forum 18. The Mosque is a roughly 25 metre (27 yard) high brick building, which is about 900 meters (9,700 square feet) in area, local Muslims said. Demolition of the Mosque began on 27 November, witnesses told Forum 18.
By 5 December almost half of the Mosque building – including most of the walls, roof, and dome – had been demolished. Local Muslims have insisted to Forum 18 that they want the demolition stopped and their Mosque restored, so they can use it to meet for worship.
The Imam al-Bukhari Mosque was opened in 1995 but forcibly closed by the regime in 2009. Police “without giving any explanation came one day and told the Imam that the Mosque will be closed down.” One of the Muslims stated that “we were not happy, but local police falsely told local residents that the Mosque will reopen soon.” Another Muslim told Forum 18 that “we all were very unhappy our Mosque was closed down in 2009, and we made many official complaints to the authorities.” Local police visited the mahalla several times after the complaints to talk to residents. “Each time they promised that it would reopen. Just be patient, they told us. But they were lying”.
Tashkent Administration in 2016 transferred the mosque and its land to a car wash company, which in 2022 sold it on to an unknown person or company. Demolition workers in December 2024 also refused to reveal the identity of the new owner to local residents, but said that a business centre will be built on the land.
The new owner also attempted to demolish the Mosque in 2023, but did not do this after local residents wrote many complaints to local prosecutors and the Prosecutor General’s Office.
A human rights defender, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of state reprisals, linked the demolition of Tashkent’s Shaykhontohur District Imam al-Bukhari Mosque to Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov’s June 2024 statement threatening to confiscate mosques for business use. “This could have encouraged the owner to demolish the Mosque now,” the human rights defender told Forum 18 on 5 December. Muslims, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of state reprisals, have told Forum 18 that they have observed that the demolition is being carried out with the full co-operation of the police.
No official answered their phones whenever Forum 18 called between 5 and 6 December.
A wide range of religious communities continue to be blocked from using or repairing their own buildings, forcibly closed, gaining state registration, or having their grounds seized without compensation.