Materials of religious content to be examined

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The Government of Uzbekistan issued a resolution “On measures on improving order of conducting activities in sphere of production, important and distribution of materials with religious content” on 20 January 2014.

The document is directed at ordering organizational-normative framework and relations in the sphere of production, important and distribution of materials with religious content, optimization of process of their examination, as well as improving activities of the Committee on religious affairs under the Cabinet of Ministers of Uzbekistan.

The resolution approved a regulation on order on conducting activities in sphere of production, important and distribution of materials with religious content and a regulation on order of holding state religious expertise of materials with religious content.

According to the first regulation, production, important and distribution of materials with religious content in the territory of Uzbekistan can be conducted after state religious expertise.

The materials with religious content should have title and information about its content and author, producer, date and place of production, circulation and other data.

Legal entities and individuals can produce materials with religious content. The sample of the product and information on it should be delivered to the authorized state body for expertise. The Committee on religious affairs under the Cabinet of Ministers of Uzbekistan is an authorized body on expertise of products of religious content.

The materials, published by legal entities and individuals, after expertise should have information on the author and title of the materials, address of publisher, number of copies, short content or interpretation, as well as date of publication.

The publications of religious content are allowed after expertise, which will be carried out within 10 days, and the conclusion of expertise will be issued.

State Customs Committee of Uzbekistan and Committee of border protection of the National Security Service of Uzbekistan should directed seized materials with religious content to the authorized body for expertise on timely bases, the regulation said.

The materials, imported into Uzbekistan by legal entities and individuals, included to the banned products, will be seized by the State Customs Committee of Uzbekistan and Committee of border protection after the expertise.

The legal entities and individuals can import up to three copies of each material for own use, if the publications were not included to the list of banned products, and can be imported after expertise.

The authorized body should consider the materials within ten days after receiving sample and issue conclusion on its further import into Uzbekistan.

In order to protect interests of the citizens of Uzbekistan during pilgrimage period, the authorized body will carry out expertise of religious content at customs control points.

Legal entities and individuals can realize the religious content in Uzbekistan via fixed trade points with use of cash machines, POS-terminals and submitting earned money to the bank. It is banned to realize products with religious content at other trade points.

National Library of Uzbekistan, information-library and information-resource centers, libraries of the state bodies and other libraries were banned to accept foreign products without obtaining conclusion of the authorized body.

The authorized body and other interested bodies will carry out joint measures to reveal and prevent of illegal distribution of materials with religious content.

The conclusion of the authorized body can be used only to concrete materials in the territory of Uzbekistan.

The materials cannot be disseminated for these purposes:

• discrimination on grounds of sex, race, nationality, language, religion, social origin, beliefs, personal and social status, and for other reasons, or to discredit the products of other persons;
• call for violent change of the constitutional order and territorial integrity of the Republic of Uzbekistan;
• propaganda for war, violence and terrorism, as well as the ideas of religious extremism, separatism and fundamentalism;
• dissemination of information, simulating national, racial, ethnic or religious hatred;
• call for a change of religion;
• insulting or humiliating religious feelings of believers, call to non-fulfillment of their constitutional duties by citizens;
• call for attacks on the rights and property of the state, public or religious organizations;
• propaganda of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors;
• incitement to commit acts that entail criminal and other responsibility in accordance with law.

In line with the second regulation, the expertise will conducted within ten days after receiving application. An expert council, which will include scholars, experts and specialists in religious sphere and theology, can be created under the authorized body.

The experts, participating in expertise are required to provide their data, including education, academic degree, work experience and other information on the competence in the field of religious studies, as well as describe in detail the procedure of the study, rationale for its findings, in accordance with religious canons and interpretations laws and sign the conclusion.