Jun 3, 2022
Uzbekistan is one of a handful of countries that has seen dramatic improvements for religious freedom in recent years; however, religious communities are still experiencing high levels of government regulation and repression that is continuing to impact their ability to exercise their freedom of religion or belief.
In April 2022, USCIRF sent a delegation to Uzbekistan. Senior Policy Analyst Keely Bakken, who was part of that USCIRF delegation to Uzbekistan, joins us today to discuss the outcome of the trip, recent developments since then, and other areas of possible reform in Uzbekistan.
Read USCIRF’s report on Uzbekistan’s Religious and Political Prisoners
With Contributions from:
Dwight Bashir, Director of Outreach and Policy, USCIRF
Keely Bakken, Senior Policy Analyst, USCIRF
Gabrielle Hasenstab, Communications Specialist, USCIRF
Additional Name(s): Tashi Dorjee, བཀྲ་ཤིས་རྡོ་རྗེ་, 扎西多吉
Gender: Male
Perpetrator: China
Ethnic Group: Tibetan
Religion or Belief: Buddhist – Tibetan
Reports of Torture: No
Reports of Medical Neglect: No
Date of Detainment: January/1/2022
Current Status: Not Released
Religious Leader: Yes
Most Recent Type of Abuse: Detainment
Reason for Persecution: Reporting on Religious Freedom Conditions or Documenting Religious Freedom Violations
Nature of Charges: Unknown
Tashi Dorje
Extra Bio Info:
Tashi Dorje is detained for documenting religious freedom violations.
On January 1, 2022, police in Draggo (Luhuo) county, Kardze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan province, detained several Tibetans, including Tashi Dorje, a monk, after accusing them of sharing information about government demolitions of Buddhist statues and prayer wheels near Draggo Monastery in December 2021.
Publicly Available Information:
- "Tashi Dorje" Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC)
Additional Name(s): བསྟན་འཛིན་དར་རྒྱས་
Gender: Male
Perpetrator: China
Ethnic Group: Tibetan
Religion or Belief: Buddhist – Tibetan
Sentence: 3 Years, 6 Months’ Imprisonment
Date of Detainment: September//2020
Current Status: Unknown
Religious Leader: Yes
Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment
Reason for Persecution: Adherence to a Religious Figure Possession of Religious Materials
Nature of Charges: Separatism
Tenzin Dargye
Extra Bio Info:
Tenzin Dargye was imprisoned for adherence to a religious figure.
In September 2020, authorities in Sershul (Shiqu) county, Kardze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan province, detained Dargye, a monk at Sershul’s Barong Monastery, reportedly after police found photos of the Dalai Lama on his mobile phone as well as other information deemed "politically sensitive."
In May/June 2022, the Sershul County People’s Court reportedly sentenced Dargye to three years and six months in prison for “separatism.”
Dargye’s sentence should have ended in March 2024.
Publicly Available Information:
-
"Tenzin Dargye" Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC)