Additional Name(s): Fayzulla Saidkarimovich Agzamov, Файзулла Саидкаримович Агзамов, Файзулла Саидкаримович Агзамов
Gender: Male
Current Location: CEP 17, Karaulbazar, Bukhara
Perpetrator: Uzbekistan
Religion or Belief: Muslim – Sunni
Reports of Torture: Yes
Reports of Medical Neglect: No
Sentence: 17 Years' Imprisonment + 16 Years, 6 Months' Imprisonment
Current Status: Not Released
Religious Leader: No
Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment
Reason for Persecution: Religious Activity Religious Belief
Nature of Charges: Banned Organization Extremism Spreading Propaganda & False or Misleading Ideas, Information, or Materials Treason & Sedition
Fayzulla Agzamov
Extra Bio Info:
Fayzulla Agzamov is imprisoned in relation to his religious belief and activity.
In 2001, authorities arrested Agzamov and charged him with “attempts to overthrow the constitutional order” (Art. 159 UCC) and an unspecified subsection of Article 244 UCC. Human rights activists report that authorities targeted Agzamov simply because he fit the profile of an observant Muslim who practices his religion outside the strict controls imposed by the government.
On an unspecified date, Agzamov was reportedly sentenced to 17 years in prison.
In 2014, less than three years before Agzamov was to be released, authorities pressed new charges against him in prison, adding an additional 16 years and six months to his sentence.
Agzamov is currently serving his sentence in a strict prison colony in CEP 17, Karaulbazar, Bukhara.
Relatives allege that authorities subjected Agzamov to torture earlier in the course of his imprisonment.
In the ensuing two decades, Uzbek authorities have detained and imprisoned several of Agzamov’s relatives, including his wife and son, on similar charges, though all but Agzamov have now been released.
Publicly Available Information:
Additional Name(s): Усмон Дарвишов, Усман Дарвышов
Gender: Male
Perpetrator: Uzbekistan
Religion or Belief: Muslim – Sunni
Reports of Torture: Yes
Reports of Medical Neglect: No
Sentence: 16 Years' Imprisonment
Date of Detainment: February/18/2009
Current Status: Released
Religious Leader: No
Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment
Reason for Persecution: Religious Activity Religious Belief
Nature of Charges: Banned Organization Extremism Hate Speech Treason & Sedition
Usman Darvyshov
Extra Bio Info:
Usman Darvyshov was imprisoned for his religious belief and activity.
On February 18, 2009, Uzbek security services detained Darvyshov, a boxing coach at an athletics school and resident of Namangan, after security services accused him of being a religious extremist. He was initially charged with “petty hooliganism” and sentenced him to 15 days’ administrative arrest. Darvyshov was reportedly tortured into confessing.
On an unspecified date, Darvyshov was charged with “incitement of ethnic, racial, or religious hatred” (Art. 156 UCC), “attempts to overthrow the constitutional order” (Art. 159 UCC), “organizing a criminal group” (Art. 242 UCC), and "creation, management, and participation in religious extremist, separatist, fundamentalist, or other banned organizations" (Art. 244-2 UCC).
On an unspecified date, Darvyshov was reportedly sentenced to 16 years in prison following a closed trial that lacked due process.
In 2018, Darvyshov was transferred to an open-air prison resettlement colony after serving nine years in a Qarshi prison.
In September 2022, it was reported that Darvyshov had been released.
Publicly Available Information:
Oct 8, 2021
Saudi Arabia has made some reforms to select polices impacting religious freedom, including improvements to its textbooks. Nevertheless, there are still several deeply rooted issues that undermine the credibility of its claims to be undertaking serious reform: non-Muslim communities may not construct houses of worship; Shi’a Muslims in Saudi Arabia still face systematic discrimination; religious dissidents continue to languish in prison; and the guardianship system limits a woman’s ability to exercise her religious freedom.
It goes without saying that Saudi Arabia has a long way to go in terms of improving religious freedom conditions on the ground. USCIRF Supervisory Policy Analyst Scott Weiner joins us today to highlight the areas in which they have made reforms, and elaborate on the conditions as they currently stand.
Read USCIRF’s latest Country Update on Saudi Arabia
Learn more about religious prisoner of conscience Raif Badawi mentioned in this episode.
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