TASHKENT, Uzbekistan — Uzbekistan’s post office routinely opens parcels of religious books and magazines sent from abroad, religious liberty news service Forum 18 has found.
The post office then sends examples to the state Religious Affairs Committee, collects them with a committee decision as to whether to ban the title, writes to the sender and the failed recipient to explain why the titles have been rejected and sometimes returns them at Uzbek post-office expense.
Kural Tulebaev, director of the main post office that receives foreign parcels, as well as customs officials have denied that this is censorship.
“We’re just following the law,” Tulebaev told Forum 18. His customs service colleagues were just as adamant. “The law requires that all of it is checked by the religion committee,” a senior inspector said. “The law is the law.”
The Religious Affairs Committee has refused to explain how it makes censorship decisions or why it censors religious literature in defiance of international human rights commitments.
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