Additional Name(s): Pavel Davidovich Shreider
Gender: Male
Perpetrator: Kyrgyzstan
Religion or Belief: Christian – Protestant
Reports of Torture: Yes
Date of Detainment: November/13/2024
Current Status: Released
Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment
Reason for Persecution: Religious Figure & Religious Leadership Role
Nature of Charges: Hate Speech
Pavel Shreider
Extra Bio Info:
Pavel Shreider was imprisoned for his religious activity and leadership role.
In November 2024, armed National Security Committee officials arrested Shreider, a pastor of the banned True and Free Reform Seventh-day Adventist Church, at his home in Bishkek. The day of his arrest, officials raided Shreider's home, church, and the homes of nine other church members, confiscating Bibles and religious materials.
During detention, officers beat Shreider with an iron pipe to force a confession, which caused a traumatic brain injury requiring medical treatment.
In July 2025, a court sentenced Shreider to 3 years' imprisonment followed by deportation for "inciting racial, ethnic, national, religious, or regional enmity" (Art. 330-1 KCC).
In March 2026, Shreider was released from prison and fined 150,000 soms. Authorities deported him the following month.
Publicly Available Information:
- KYRGYZSTAN: Up to 7 years' imprisonment for True and Free Adventist Pastor? Forum 18
Gender: Male
Current Location: Investigation Prison No. 5 in Karshi (Shaykhali Prison)
Perpetrator: Uzbekistan
Religion or Belief: Muslim – Sunni
Sentence: 8 Years' Imprisonment
Date of Detainment: June/18/2024
Date of Sentencing: December/18/2024
Current Status: Not Released
Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment
Reason for Persecution: Discussing Religion & Religious Texts
Nature of Charges: Extremism
Anvar Abdullayev
Extra Bio Info:
Anvar Abdullayev is imprisoned for his independent religious activity.
On June 18, 2024, police arrested Abdullayev and other Muslims he was associated with after some of their group had attended a meal at the home of a state employee on that day. Reportedly, the employee regularly arranges meetings for Muslims during which he encourages attendees to make illegal statements while secretly recording them. During the arrests, police were dressed in military camouflage, carried machine guns, and used force. The Kashkadarya Regional Police Criminal Investigation Department charged Abdullayev with "creating, leading, or participating in religious extremist, separatist, fundamentalist or other banned organizations" (Art. 244-2.1 UCC).
On December 18, 2024, the Karshi Criminal Court sentenced Abdullayev to eight years in a strict regime prison.
Related Cases: Laziz Vokhidov; Khasan Abdirakhimov; Gaybullo Jalilov; Sardor Jurayev; Jamshid Abdirakhimov; Umar Khalimov
Publicly Available Information:
Jul 31, 2025
One of the most important elements of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 is the requirement for the U.S. Secretary of State to designate the world’s worst violators of religious freedom as Countries of Particular Concern and to enact accountability measures as a result of those designations. Subsequent legislation created a Special Watch List for other countries with significant violations and created a new category of Entities of Particular Concern for nonstate actors that commit such violations and control territory. However, the State Department last released its designations nearly two years ago, in December 2023—and they are now set to expire later this year.
On today’s episode of the USCIRF Spotlight Podcast, USCIRF Commissioner Stephen Schneck joins Deputy Director of Research and Policy Kurt Werthmuller to discuss the importance of the State Departments CPC, SWL, and EPC designations, as well as to share reflections on his time as USCIRF Chair over the previous year.
Read USCIRF’s 2025 Annual Report—including its current CPC, SWL, and EPC recommendations—and the U.S. legislation behind these designations.