Rise in Christian Persecution Likely with New Uzbek Leader
ICC NOTE: If one were to believe the collapse of the Soviet Union saw the end of its treatment of religious groups, think again. Uzbekistan, a former satellite state of the USSR, has maintained its status as a secular nation by repressing religious groups for decades. With the death of its president/dictator Islam Karimov, the power vacuum left by his absence will likely increase persecution among the 210,000 Christians who call Uzbekistan home. Furthermore, with the interim president eyeing a victory in the new presidential election, the National Security Service (SNB) will increase their control over the people much like how the KGB did during the Cold War as the SNB is the successor to the security service within Uzbekistan.
9/14/2016 Uzbekistan (World Magazine) – Christians in Uzbekistan already face severe restrictions on their religion—the worst of any nation in Central Asia. Now they fear an increase in persecution following President Islam Karimov’s death.
Karimov died Sept. 2, days after being hospitalized for a stroke. The government did not acknowledge his illness until hours before his death.
The authoritarian leader rose through Communist Party ranks to become the head of Soviet Uzbekistan two years before the Soviet Union’s collapse. He became president of an independent Uzbekistan in 1989.
After Karimov’s death, the country’s parliament named Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev interim president on Sept. 8, to maintain law and order, according to Reuters. The constitution requires a presidential election within three months, and Mirziyoyev is expected to win.
The transition of power worries Christians who already suffer from restrictions on worship and religious publications, as well as government monitoring, threats, raids, and arrests.
“If Mirziyoyev becomes the next president, the persecution of Christians will be even worse,” a pastor who wished to remain anonymous told World Watch Monitor (WWM). “Actually, as it seems, it was he who initiated or was at least involved in the persecution of the Uzbek Protestant Church and converts from a Muslim background.”