The right to believe, to worship and witness
The right to change one’s belief or religion
The right to join together and express one’s belief
1 March 2024
UZBEKISTAN: Large fines for sharing beliefs with permission
The regime has resumed fining people who share their faith with others. A Tashkent court fined Jehovah's Witness Nadezhda Manatskova two weeks' average wages in October 2023. The same court fined Elnora Maksutova 8 months' average wages and Marina Penkova over 5 and a half months' average wages in February 2024. In the previous last known case, a Protestant was fined in January 2019. "Members of this community are telling people to join their religion, and this cannot be accepted," says the police officer who questioned Manatskova.
26 January 2024
UZBEKISTAN: Muslim prayer rooms closed, Bukhara Baptists unable to meet
The regime has blocked Bukhara's registered Baptist Union Church from meeting since May 2021, but it hopes to be given a new building in 2024. "When we tried to rent other places to meet, we were refused," Baptists said. The Interior Ministry has closed public Muslim prayer rooms nationwide, using excuses such as escaped prisoners may use them. An Interior Ministry official could not explain to Forum 18 how Muslims who want to pray the five-times-a-day namaz prayers can pray if they are in public places.
6 October 2023
UZBEKISTAN: New punishments "correspond to international standards"?
Senator Batyr Matmuratov would not say why Criminal and Administrative Code amendments to increase punishments related to exercising freedom of religion or belief, adopted by both chambers of parliament in September, were not first published for public comment. He falsely claimed that all laws "correspond to international standards". Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov reportedly warned state officials not to attend mosque, though his spokesperson denied this. From the summer, police resumed detentions on the street of Muslim women wearing religious clothes, including the hijab and niqab, and men growing beards.
26 May 2023
UZBEKISTAN: Devout Muslim jailed after return to country
Prisoner of conscience and devout Muslim, 52-year-old Alijon Mirganiyev has been transferred to a strict regime prison to serve a 6 and a half year sentence imposed after he returned to Uzbekistan from Turkey. He was promised he would not be arrested if he returned to end criminal charges brought against him for his exercise of freedom of religion and belief, but was arrested on arrival at Tashkent Airport. "This is one of the numerous fabricated cases made against influential Muslims," says human rights defender Yelena Urlayeva.
13 April 2023
UZBEKISTAN: 15-day jail for haram yoghurt videos
Hojiakbar Nosirov, a 25-year-old consumer rights activist from Tashkent, posted a video on social media on 5 April declaring that the red colouring agent carmine he had found in locally-sold yoghurt is haram (forbidden) for Muslims. Police investigated and commissioned an "expert analysis" from the regime's Religious Affairs Committee that claimed Nosirov had expressed "enmity, intolerance or discord". A 3-minute closed online trial jailed him for 15 days. "The experts quickly conducted a literary examination, wrote down the conclusion and decided the fate of an individual", his lawyer complained.
11 April 2023
UZBEKISTAN: Easter church raid, Baptists tortured, prison Ramadan fast ban
Police raided the Baptist Church in Karshi during worship on Easter Sunday, 9 April. They "damaged the door of the prayer house, behaved crudely, and arrested three church members", Baptists said. Police "brutally beat David Ibragimov and a few more church members in front of our fellow believers" and "used electric shock prods and other implements to incapacitate" church members. Police refused to explain why they raided the church and tortured church members. Open Prison No. 49 in Olmalyk banned prisoners from fasting during Ramadan, threatening those that do.
15 September 2022
UZBEKISTAN: "Go on dreaming!" prison governor replies to tortured prisoner of conscience's medical need
Prisoner of conscience Fazilkhoja Arifkhojayev is being forced to do work he cannot medically do, damaging his spine even more. He has been repeatedly tortured, and when the family asked Prison Governor Oybek Tishayev personally whether they could arrange medical care at their own cost, or as required by the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (known as the Mandela Rules) the prison could arrange the necessary specialist medical care. Tishayev replied: "Go on dreaming!"
26 July 2022
UZBEKISTAN: Judge jails Muslim as he "read literature .. spread his beliefs .. met others"
A Bukhara Region court jailed 47-year-old Bobirjon Tukhtamurodov for 5 years 1 month for participating in a group that met to study the works of Muslim theologian Said Nursi. Judge Akrom Rakhimov told Forum 18 that prisoner of conscience Tukhtamurodov was jailed as: "He not only read literature, but spread his beliefs and met others." He had returned from exile in Russia after Uzbekistan's regime told him he would not be jailed.
22 June 2022
UZBEKISTAN: "The authorities do not want us to exist"
The regime has nationwide in 2021 and 2022 blocked state registration attempts by Muslim, Protestant, and Jehovah's Witness communities, making it impossible for them to meet legally. Often the excuses used are property-related, with officials taking full advantage of the opportunities provided by the Religion Law for arbitrary and inconsistent demands. Religious community members often want their names and the names of their communities to remain anonymous for fear of state reprisals.
27 May 2022
UZBEKISTAN: Two more prisoners of conscience jailed, one for 7 years
Today (27 May), trauma surgeon Alimardon Sultonov jailed for 7 years in labour camp "for criticising President Mirziyoyev, state-appointed imams .. " Both torture and 2 regime "parliamentarians" were used to try to get him to admit "guilt". On 17 May Muslim former prisoner of conscience Oybek Khamidov sentenced to 5 years' jail. Against published law neither Prosecutor nor "witnesses" were in court. The Judge did not want to talk to Forum 18 about the apparent illegality of the court proceedings, or the jailing.
12 May 2022
UZBEKISTAN: Muslim jailed for four extra years, Nursi reader arrested
Muslim prisoner of conscience Khasan Abdirakhimov was on 28 April jailed for four extra years in an ordinary regime labour camp. The Judge told Forum 18 he was jailed "because he put likes under [religious] materials, and shared them with others on the internet". On 11 April Muslim Bobirjon Tukhtamurodov who met others to read theologian Said Nursi's works returned from exile in Russia to Uzbekistan. Despite previous assurances he was arrested, and is being held for six months in pre-trial detention.
3 May 2022
UZBEKISTAN: "Police watch us like we are in the palm of their hands"
From 2018 mosques have had to pay for surveillance cameras controlled by the regime to be installed inside and outside mosques. In early 2022, the Interior Ministry also ordered non-Muslim communities to install the cameras. Muslim and non-Muslim religious communities and followers have told Forum 18 that some people have stopped attending meetings for worship, for fear of being identified and then facing state reprisals. A Muslim commented that "we want to concentrate on our meetings for worship, and not be afraid".
8 April 2022
UZBEKISTAN: Latest prosecution for teahouse Islam discussion
Former prisoner of conscience Oybek Khamidov is on trial after his younger brother fled Andijan, following police questioning over five days after a teahouse discussion of Islam with friends. Khamidov was threatened that if he did not help police find his brother, he would be put on criminal trial. The family have no knowledge of his brother's current whereabouts. The indictment claims Khamidov "did not learn his lesson" and began again "storing and distributing religious materials".
1 April 2022
UZBEKISTAN: "The law prohibits holding prayers in a public place"
On 2 March, Nosir Numanov and his friends went to their local mosque for evening prayer. As there were too many other worshippers and many police outside the mosque, they went to a local teahouse to say their prayers, and afterwards planned to have a meal together. On 11 March a Judge handed Numanov a 15-day jail sentence and fined the teahouse owner about 10 months' average wages. Separately, a Judge fined former prisoners of conscience Gaybullo Jalilov and Laziz Vokhidov for having allegedly "illegal" religious materials on their phones.
16 March 2022
UZBEKISTAN: Raids, searches, detentions, fines, criminal investigations
Since early 2022, Tashkent Police have targeted Muslims with raids, house searches, detentions, arrests, administrative punishments (for allowing prayers to take place on business premises, and for teaching religion without state permission), and criminal investigations. Police detained an 18-year-old woman they had earlier pressured for wearing the hijab and studying Arabic. After 10 hours' questioning without food or water, the young woman – who has anaemia - fainted. Police refused to explain why they raided the family home and pressured the family and young woman, and why no one was tried or punished for torturing her. Tashkent City Criminal Court upheld the 7 and a half year jail term given to Fazilkhoja Arifkhojayev in January for criticising state-appointed imams.
2 March 2022
UZBEKISTAN: Raids, torture "to discredit us in front of our neighbours"
Three former prisoners of conscience were among Muslims in the southern Kashkadarya Region raided and questioned by police in November 2021. "I think they targeted us during the November campaign specifically to discredit us in front of our neighbours and the general public," Gaybullo Jalilov told Forum 18. "They see that time in prison did not break our determination to continue practising our faith. We still attend Mosque regularly, we still wear beards, and we are still respected by our community as examples of good Muslims." Police tortured another of those detained and questioned, Khayrullo Tursunov. Police refused to tell Forum 18 why his torturers have not been arrested and put on criminal trial for torture as legally-binding human rights obligations require.
18 February 2022
UZBEKISTAN: New trial imminent for Muslim prisoner of conscience?
Muslim prisoner of conscience Khasan Abdirakhimov, jailed since November 2021, awaits a new criminal trial for allegedly distributing Islamic material that the regime claims constitute "a threat to public security and public order". Police completed the investigation on 16 February. Abdirakhimov faces up to a further eight years' jail if convicted. Police Investigator Nurullo Norkulov, who leads the case, refused to discuss it. Abdirakhimov's wife Iroda Nekboyeva says he did not appeal against the court verdict that sent him to prison as police said he would be released soon if he did not "make a noise". "But apparently we were all deceived and now they opened a new case and want to give him a long sentence."
4 February 2022
UZBEKISTAN: More Muslims jailed, tortured, arrested
A Tashkent court jailed Muslim prisoner of conscience Fazilkhoja Arifkhojayev for seven and half years in a labour camp for criticising state-appointed imams. He was repeatedly tortured, including after his defence lawyer Sergey Mayorov lodged formal complaints about the torture. The judge ignored his torture. "The torturers continue with impunity," Mayorov observed. The Supreme Court upheld in absentia Odilbek Khojabekov's five year labour camp sentence for returning from the haj pilgrimage with Islamic literature, and he is now in hiding. The National Guard has arrested Alimardon Sultonov for criticising the President and state-appointed imams.
19 January 2022
UZBEKISTAN: Targeted for being a devout Muslim woman
Officials are harassing an 18-year-old Muslim from Tashkent who wears the hijab. The family complained to the President and others about her being added to the Preventative Register. Police told neighbours that the authorities do not like her and warned them not to associate with her. Muslim men who have had their beards forcibly shaved have also been added to the Preventative Register. "Muslims are indignant that the state is attacking their beards and hijab, which is a very private matter for each individual," one Muslim told Forum 18. After anti-beard and –hijab talks in colleges, a Higher Education Ministry official claimed that "students will not be punished for a beard or hijab".
14 December 2021
UZBEKISTAN: More Muslims targeted for criticising regime hostility to Islam
Police raided the home of Tashkent Muslim Laziz Asadov, seizing two Korans and other property after he continued to criticise the regime's religious policies. The search warrant claimed he is implicated in a criminal case against a man he does not know, and Asadov has fled abroad. The criminal trial of Muslim prisoner of conscience Fazilkhoja Arifkhojayev may begin in Tashkent on 10 January. He has been tortured and his health has declined in jail. When asked what steps the regime is taking to implement the medical treatment required by the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (known as the Mandela Rules), an Interior Ministry official responsible for medical care in prisons told Forum 18 that "I have never heard of the Rules."
26 November 2021
UZBEKISTAN: Religious freedom survey, November 2021
Freedom of religion and belief, with interlinked freedoms of expression, association, and assembly, remains severely restricted in Uzbekistan. Forum 18's survey analysis documents violations including: jailing and torturing prisoners of conscience whose only crime is to exercise their freedom of religion and belief; banning education and worship meetings without state permission; complete state control of all expressions of Islam; and religious literature censorship and destruction.
20 October 2021
UZBEKISTAN: Jailed for learning to pray and discussing Islam
Four Muslim men jailed for up to six years in a labour camp after meeting together to learn how to pray, to discuss Islamic topics such as prayer, fasting, peaceful jihad, good deeds and other matters, and to attend a mosque. This is the latest known case where Muslim men who met to pray and discuss their faith have been jailed with the use of a police agent provocateur.
1 October 2021
UZBEKISTAN: Wanted for 5-year jail term, prisoners tortured again
A Tashkent court handed 47-year-old Odilbek Khojabekov a five year labour camp sentence to punish him for returning from haj pilgrimage with Islamic literature. A first trial gave him a suspended sentence which was later removed for good probation behaviour. The SSS secret police then pressured ordinary police, prosecutors, and others into giving what the family insists is false testimony at a second hearing which ordered him jailed. He is in hiding fearing for his safety. Separately, two prisoners of conscience continue to be tortured and one went on hunger strike.
21 July 2021
UZBEKISTAN: "The regime wants to shut people up"
A Tashkent court ordered Fazilkhoja Arifkhojayev held in three-month pre-trial detention after an initial 15-day term after he questioned a regime-supporting imam. Officials denied him access to his lawyer and tortured him during his 15-day sentence. Officials tortured prisoner of conscience Tulkun Astanov in jail for praying, and he has lost 25 kg in weight since January. Officials have warned Shia Muslims not to publish religious material, and "some even stopped talking to or associating with people who had been warned".
5 July 2021
UZBEKISTAN: President to sign restrictive new Religion Law?
Uzbekistan's new Religion Law [signed by the President 5 July, came into force 6 July] maintains almost all the restrictions on freedom of religion and belief in the current Religion Law. It continues to ban: all exercise of freedom of religion and belief without state permission; teaching about religion without state permission; sharing beliefs; and publishing, distributing or importing printed and electronic religious materials which have not undergone compulsory prior state censorship. The continuing restrictions are in defiance of Uzbekistan's legally binding international human rights obligations.
30 June 2021
UZBEKISTAN: Shia mosque reopenings blocked, Religion Law passed with no published text
Officials have so far blocked Shia Muslims' attempts to reopen mosques in Bukhara with property excuses, and in Samarkand attempts have not been made as "they are afraid of the authorities". Officials have rejected other religious communities' recent applications to exist, or failed to respond. "Nothing has changed," a Protestant church which has applied for registration told Forum 18. Also, the draft Religion Law has been sent for presidential signature, but the regime has not revealed the text of the law it intends to apply to people it rules.
28 May 2021
UZBEKISTAN: Police raid mosque, teacher jailed for 15 days
On 27 May, Asliddin Khudaiberdiyev was jailed for teaching five boys and six adult men how to read the Koran and pray. The jailing followed a police and secret police raid on a Samarkand Region mosque as Muslims were preparing to worship. The raid came as the regime publicly announced and implemented increased restrictions across the country on under-18s attending mosques. Also, Religion Law changes are still going through parliament but the regime continues to hide the text its parliament is discussing.
13 May 2021
UZBEKISTAN: Parents told not to teach Islam to their children
In late April the Deputy Headteacher of a Bukhara school rang Muslim parents to say that the ordinary police and the SSS secret police had visited to ask "how religiously devout families and children are". Parents were warned of unspecified consequences if they teach Islam to their children, or any of their children wear the hijab. Human rights defenders have heard unconfirmed accounts that the ordinary police and SSS secret police are making similar visits to schools in other parts of the country to ask similar questions.
30 April 2021
UZBEKISTAN: Shia Muslim fined for having Shia material
A Samarkand court fined Shia Muslim Rashid Ibrahimov about two weeks' average wages for having Shia religious material on his mobile phone. The phone was confiscated. A court official said Shia Muslims were punished because of the Religion Law. A prisoner of conscience jailed for exercising freedom of religion and belief has been tortured with beatings on the soles of his feet. Another prisoner of conscience, Tulkun Astanov, has been given medical treatment, but his current location is unknown.
31 March 2021
UZBEKISTAN: Fines, magazine destruction, short-term jailing, beard shaving, threats
A Tashkent court fined a Baptist for offering Christian magazines to neighbours in her home and ordered the magazines destroyed. A Muslim was jailed for 10 days after police found a lecture from a state Islamic institution on his phone. And a police officer threatened another Muslim with jail or a psychiatric ward for a video criticising the "no serious changes" on human rights, and the public's silence "because of fear of the authorities" about human rights violations.
12 March 2021
UZBEKISTAN: "A disguised old Criminal Code with no real changes"
Members of religious communities and human rights defenders criticise the draft new Criminal Code due to come into force on 1 January 2022. This would continue to punish those who exercise freedom of religion or belief without state permission. A "disguised old Criminal Code with no real changes", Protestants complain. Muslims describe it as "our government's old tricks". Solmaz Akhmedova of the Human Rights Alliance noted that "they just made some decorative changes, and used less religious terminology."
24 February 2021
UZBEKISTAN: 7 prisoners of conscience jailed for between 11 and 4 years
Seven Muslim men who met in Tashkent to discuss Islam were in January 2021 transferred to various prisons to begin jail terms of between 11 and four years. Nine men were given restricted freedom sentences. "It is no use for us to make another appeal as nothing will change," a relative told Forum 18. In this and other cases there are credible claims of torture and the use of agent provocateurs to bring false charges.
12 February 2021
UZBEKISTAN: Torture, prayer bans, but "No problems in Uzbekistan's prisons"?
Prisoners suffer bans on praying the namaz and reading the Koran, torture for praying the namaz or fasting during Ramadan, denials of medical care, failure to carry out medical treatment families have paid for, and inadequate and insanitary conditions. "Why did the authorities punish him simply for praying the namaz? What day and age do we live in?" one tortured prisoner's relatives asked. "There are no problems in Uzbekistan's prisons today", claimed Aziza Kenzhayeva of the Interior Ministry's Chief Directorate for the Enforcement of Punishments.
22 January 2021
UZBEKISTAN: Five years jail for defending Muslims' freedom of religion and belief
After repeatedly defending Muslims' freedom of religion and belief, including demonstrating outside President Shavkat Mirziyoyev's residence, Tulkun Astanov has been jailed for five years. A state report accused him of following "sources of biased news such as Radio Free Europe", and publishing "unsubstantiated and exaggerated" information. Prisoner of conscience Astanov is being banned in jail from reading the Koran and praying the namaz.
23 December 2020
UZBEKISTAN: Extremism charges against Samarkand Shia Muslim?
The Samarkand police "Struggle with Extremism and Terrorism Department" has opened a case against Shia Muslim Rashid Ibrahimov, twice questioning him without a written summons. Officers sent material from his phone, including texts of sermons, to the Religious Affairs Committee for "expert analysis". "Depending on that, they may bring administrative or criminal charges against him," a source told Forum 18. Officials are hostile to Shia Islam. Human rights defender Doctor Alimardon Sultonov is challenging his 14-month restricted freedom sentence.
15 December 2020
UZBEKISTAN: Registration applications denied, officials refuse to explain why
Shia Muslim, Jehovah's Witness, and Protestant religious communities have all had recent applications to exist refused. In many cases the excuse used has been refusals by local authorities to provide documents as part of the complex, time-consuming and expensive application process. In some cases registration applications have led to reprisals, such as police demands that Protestant Christians renounce their faith.
30 October 2020
UZBEKISTAN: Trial postponed, home raided to pressure human rights defender
The criminal trial of surgeon and human rights defender Doctor Alimardon Sultonov continues but has been postponed to 24 November, and his home was raided after the second hearing as human rights defender Solmaz Akhmedov. Police confirmed to Forum 18 that this was the reason for the raid. Dr Sultonov is known for publicly discussing Muslims' freedom of religion and belief, and had questioned why local authorities publicly stated that there were no coronavirus cases when he had evidence that this is not the reality.
16 October 2020
UZBEKISTAN: "The draft Religion Law is only an advertisement"
A Venice Commission and OSCE ODIHR opinion on the draft Religion Law has been welcomed by human rights defenders and members of religious and belief communities. Officials have not explained why a draft which they knew seriously failed to implement human rights was sent for review. "We need to understand that the draft Law is only an advertisement for Uzbekistan aimed at international organisations and foreign states," one Muslim noted to Forum 18. "If the authorities wanted real freedom for the people, then the draft Law would have been very different."
30 September 2020
UZBEKISTAN: "No real public discussions" of draft Religion Law
On 15 September Uzbekistan's parliament passed the draft Religion Law on its first reading. Yet Muslims and Protestants have told Forum 18 that "no real public discussions have taken place". Officials have refused to explain why the draft is not in line with international human rights standards, as proposed by people in Uzbekistan and UPR recommendations the regime accepted in 2018.
8 September 2020
UZBEKISTAN: Jail, restricted freedom sentences, for discussing faith
Tashkent Criminal Court on 14 August punished eight Muslims who discussed their faith on social media, jailing five for up to 11 and a half years, giving the other three restricted freedom sentences. The men knew each other mainly on social media "where they were asking questions about Islam", the mother of one of those jailed said. Prosecutors also handed a criminal case against four more Muslims to court.
3 September 2020
UZBEKISTAN: Prisoner requests meeting with sister "maybe for last time"
After his July transfer to Navoi's strict regime prison, 45-year-old Muslim prisoner of conscience Khayrullo Tursunov called his sister again asking to see her "maybe for the last time". With officials denying prison visits, citing the coronavirus pandemic, relatives are concerned. Prison officials claim his "safety is guaranteed and he is engaged in useful labour". Former Tashkent imam Ruhiddin Fahrutdinov was amnestied after 15 years, but the state will take 20 per cent of his wages.
24 August 2020
UZBEKISTAN: Restrictions remain in draft new Religion Law
The draft new Religion Law now in Parliament would, in defiance of Uzbekistan's international human rights commitments, continue to ban all exercise of freedom of religion and belief without state permission, ban teaching about religion without state permission, continue the compulsory prior censorship of all materials about religion and ban sharing of faith. "There's not much difference between the draft Law and the current Law," commented human rights defender Bahodyr Eliboyev.
7 August 2020
UZBEKISTAN: Synagogue demolition threat now removed?
Tashkent's Jewish community is expecting on 10 August to receive a written court decision confirming that the building company aiming to destroy the Synagogue has withdrawn its suit. "Only then will it become clearer what will happen," a community member told Forum 18. Separately, officials including a Deputy Justice Minister have indicated that existing violations of human rights are likely to remain in a new Religion Law.
4 August 2020
UZBEKISTAN: "They want to destroy our Synagogue"
Despite having legal proof that since 1973 Tashkent's Jewish community bought and remains the owner of its Synagogue, a building firm is preparing to demolish it and is claiming "compensation" from the Jewish community. It remains unclear how the city Hokimat (Administration) could allocate the land to the private company. The next hearing in the case brought by the building firm is due on 5 August.
23 July 2020
UZBEKISTAN: Agents provocateurs, arrests, torture, criminal cases
In three known cases so far in Tashkent in 2020, Muslims who discussed their faith with others are being prosecuted for alleged terrorism-related offences. In all three cases, the men were tortured and agent provocateurs used to bring false charges. Separately, a surgeon in Karakalpakstan who asked about coronavirus cases and then had religious texts confiscated has been put under house arrest.
9 June 2020
UZBEKISTAN: When will draft Religion Law be made public?
Members of religious communities expressed their frustration to Forum 18 about the secrecy of the new Religion Law's drafting process, and the regime's apparent lack of willingness to end restrictions violating human rights obligations. Officials' statements about a draft text do not match the concrete changes people in Uzbekistan have said they would like to see in a new Law.
3 June 2020
UZBEKISTAN: Police agent provocateur used to entrap Muslims
A police agent provocateur tried to get four young men interested in Islam to support terrorism. After this failed, Tashkent City Criminal Court jailed three of the men for between five and six years. Despite telling the Court that their "confessions" were extorted by torture "this was totally ignored". Another trial of eight men is underway on similar charges at the same Court.
17 April 2020
UZBEKISTAN: Despite coronavirus lockdown officials continue literature raids
The authorities are using a new March Criminal Code Article 244-5 ("Dissemination of knowingly false information about an infectious disease") against a surgeon in Karakalpakstan because he had Muslim religious texts on his computer. Many Islamic texts face a new ban, raids for religious literature continue, and import bans on non-Muslim texts continue.
11 December 2019
UZBEKISTAN: Obstacles, pressure, bribe demands obstruct legal status applications
Officials gave permission to exist to some religious communities in late 2019, but many others complain of official obstacles. Some cannot get Land Registry or Mahalla approval, others face demands for bribes. Seven Jehovah's Witness communities were rejected. Catholics await registration for a sixth parish. Police pressured Shia Muslims in Bukhara to halt a petition to reopen a closed Shia mosque.
8 November 2019
UZBEKISTAN: Haj pilgrims face state control, bribery, exit ban lists
Uzbekistan imposes severe restrictions on haj pilgrims, including using exit ban lists to bar devout Muslims, arbitrarily restricting who can go on the pilgrimage. Controls are complex and multilayered, involving the SSS secret police, the Muftiate, and the government's Religious Affairs Committee. The system's complexity facilitates corruption.