Seyed Mostafa Azmayesh is a French-Iranian jurist, scholar, and researcher. He is known for his research on Gnosticism, Islam, and Christianity. As a human rights activist, he has pushed for reform within fundamentalist regimes such as Iran, and the reform of social or legal practices that are in violation of human rights.
Seyed Mostafa Azmayesh was born in Tehran, Iran, in 1952. On completion of his studies in Arabian Literature (Tehran 1974) and Law (Tehran 1975), he moved to France in 1976. In Paris, he studied Theology and History of Law at the Sorbonne University, as well as Comparative Studies of Islam and Christianity at the University of Lyon for which he received two doctorate degrees. One of his professors was the philosopher and theologian Henri Corbin. After completing his academic studies, he continued his research in the areas of religion, philosophy and various fields of science. Azmayesh was admitted into the lineage of initiates of the Nematollahi-Gonabadi order in 1969, which is the most popular and oldest Sufi order in Iran. Azmayesh is the official representative of the Shah Ni'matullah Wali Gonabadi Order outside of Iran. [1]
Azmayesh founded a spiritual school. [2]
Since the onset of the Iranian Revolution in 1979, Azmayesh has worked to oppose those who propagate Islamist extremism. [3] His activities have included talks in the United Nations (UN). [4] He has argued that human rights principles are compatible with Quranic principles. [5] For many years, Azmayesh has spoken in opposition to the practice of stoning in Iran.
In response to the uprising in 2009 following the presidential elections, he supported freedom of expression and free speech and campaigned for the freedom of prominent political prisoners such as Nasrin Sotoudeh and [6] Narges Mohammadi, and religious and ethnic minorities such as the Kurds, Baha’i and Sufis. [7] [8] [9] [10] He has been influential in the release of numerous Sufis who were imprisoned by the extremist elements in the Iranian Regime as part of its program to suppress minorities. [11] [12]
He has spoken at a series of conferences in England, Germany, the British Parliament and the European Parliament, and published research-based proposals and reports to tackling the growing issues of violence and extremism. [13] [14] [15] [16] [17]
Azmayesh co-founded the International Organisation to Preserve Human Rights (IOPHR) [18] in February 2014, in order to continue his efforts to protect human rights for all, counter the rise of Islamist extremism and violence, and continue his advocacy for gender-equality and eliminating gender-based violence.
IOPHR is an active not-for-profit organisation and think tank based in the United Kingdom. It is a research-based organisation, with the aim of preserving human rights for all and eliminating threats to the safety and security of society. [19] IOPHR conducts conferences in the UK Parliament, [20] European Parliament, [21] and across Europe, [22] working closely with other activists, researchers, academics, public bodies such as the London Metropolitan Police, and other public service officials.
Mohammad Hosseini Beheshti was an Iranian jurist, philosopher, cleric and politician who was known as the second person in the political hierarchy of Iran after the Revolution. Beheshti is considered to have been the primary architect of Iran's post-revolution constitution, as well as the administrative structure of the Islamic republic. Beheshti is also known to have selected and trained several prominent politicians in the Islamic Republic, such as former presidents Hassan Rouhani and Mohammad Khatami, Ali Akbar Velayati, Mohammad Javad Larijani, Ali Fallahian, and Mostafa Pourmohammadi. Beheshti also served as the Secretary General of the Islamic Republic Party, and was the head of the Iranian judicial system. He further served as Chairman of the Council of Islamic Revolution, and the Assembly of Experts. Beheshti earned a PhD in Philosophy, and was fluent in English, German and Arabic.
The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, commonly known as the Sakharov Prize, is an honorary award for individuals or groups who have dedicated their lives to the defence of human rights and freedom of thought. Named after Russian scientist and dissident Andrei Sakharov, the prize was established in December 1988 by the European Parliament.
Mohammad-Javad Ardeshir Larijani is an Iranian conservative politician and former diplomat. He is currently a top adviser to the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in foreign affairs and secretary of High Council for Human rights, Judiciary of Islamic Republic of Iran.
Mostafa Moeen is an Iranian politician, professor of pediatrics, and a human rights activist who is currently founder and president of the Front for Human Rights and Democracy in Iran. He was a presidential candidate for the 2005 Iranian presidential election. His campaign enjoyed the support of some reformist parties and organizations, headed by the Islamic Iran Participation Front (IIPF).
The state of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran has been criticized by Iranians and international human rights activists, by writers, and NGOs. The United Nations General Assembly and the Human Rights Commission have condemned prior and ongoing abuses in Iran in published critiques and several resolutions. The government is criticized both for restrictions and punishments that follow the Islamic Republic's constitution and law, and for "extrajudicial" actions by state actors, such as the torture, rape, and killing of political prisoners, and the beatings and killings of dissidents and other civilians. Capital punishment in Iran remains a matter of international concern.
Omid Nouripour is a German-Iranian politician of the Alliance '90/The Greens who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag since 2006, representing the state of Hesse. Since 2022, he has also been serving as co-leader of Alliance 90/The Greens, alongside Ricarda Lang.
Isabelle Annie J. Durant is a Belgian politician of the Ecolo party who served as Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) from 2017 to 2021 and as acting Secretary-General of the organisation from 2021 to 2022.
Seyed Hossein Mousavian is an Iranian policymaker and scholar who served on Iran's nuclear diplomacy team in negotiations with the EU and International Atomic Energy Agency. He resides in the United States and is a visiting research scholar at Princeton University.
Nasrin is a feminine given name in Persian, meaning "wild rose". It is among the most popular names given to girls born in Iran.
Seyed Mohammad Ali Dadkhah is an Iranian human rights lawyer. He is a co-founder of the Defenders of Human Rights Center (DHRC), which has been repressed by the Iranian government. In the aftermath of Iran's disputed June 2009 elections, Dadkhah represented several jailed political and human rights activists. In July 2011, he was sentenced by the Iranian judiciary to nine years in prison for attempting to overthrow the ruling system, among other charges. His sentence was upheld in April 2012, and on 29 September, he was called to prison to begin his sentence.
Mostafa Mohaghegh Damad is an Iranian Shia cleric and scholar.
Nasrin Sotoudeh is a human rights lawyer in Iran. She has represented imprisoned Iranian opposition activists and politicians following the disputed June 2009 Iranian presidential elections and prisoners sentenced to death for crimes committed when they were minors. Her clients have included journalist Isa Saharkhiz, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, and Heshmat Tabarzadi. She has also represented women arrested for appearing in public without a hijab, which is a punishable offense in Iran. Nasrin Sotoudeh was the subject of Nasrin, a 2020 documentary filmed in secret in Iran about Sotoudeh's "ongoing battles for the rights of women, children and minorities." In 2021, she was named as of Time's 100 Most Influential People in the World.
Hassan Rouhani is an Iranian Islamist politician who served as the seventh president of Iran from 2013 to 2021. He is also a sharia lawyer ("Wakil"), academic, former diplomat and Islamic cleric. He has been a member of Iran's Assembly of Experts since 1999. He was a member of the Expediency Council from 1991 to 2021, and also was a member of the Supreme National Security Council from 1989 to 2021. Rouhani was deputy speaker of the fourth and fifth terms of the Parliament of Iran (Majlis) and Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council from 1989 to 2005. In the latter capacity, he was the country's top negotiator with the EU three, UK, France, and Germany, on nuclear technology in Iran, and has also served as a Shia mujtahid, and economic trade negotiator.
Kasra Nouri is an Iranian journalist and political activist. He was the CEO of "Majzooban-e noor" website, which covered news about the Dervish religious community, Nouri was last arrested with his family during 2018 Dervish protests and sentenced to 12 years in prison and 148 lashes.
Taxi, also known as Taxi Tehran, is a 2015 Iranian docufiction starring and directed by Jafar Panahi. The film premiered in competition at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival where it won the Golden Bear and the FIPRESCI Prize. In 2010, Panahi was banned from making films and travelling for 20 years, so his niece Hana Saeidi, who also appears in the film, collected the award on his behalf.
Persecution of Sufis over the course of centuries has included acts of religious discrimination, persecution, and violence both by Sunni and Shia Muslims, such as destruction of Sufi shrines, tombs and mosques, suppression of Sufi orders, murder, and terrorism against adherents of Sufism in a number of Muslim-majority countries. The Republic of Turkey banned all Sufi orders and abolished their institutions in 1925, after Sufis opposed the new secular order. The Islamic Republic of Iran has harassed Sufis, reportedly for their lack of support for the government doctrine of "governance of the jurist".
The 2018 Dervish protests, which occurred in February and March 2018 in Tehran, led to clashes between security forces, and Dervishes, an Iranian Sufi group, protesting against the government, resulting in the bloody repression of protestors. Tensions between Police, the IRGC, and the Basij with a number of Gonabadi Dervishes eventually led to the deaths of six people, the execution of Dervishes, and the arrest of hundreds of wounded Dervishes on March.
Noor-Ali Tabandeh was the spiritual leader or Qutb of the Ni'matullah Gonabadi Order in Iran, which is the largest Sufi order in Iran. He was born in Beydokht, Gonabad, Iran and died in Mehr Hospital in Tehran on 24 December 2019 after two years of house arrest.
Farhad Meysami is an Iranian physician, teacher and civil activist. He believes in non violence and civil disobedience. He was sentenced to five year sentence in August 2018 for crimes such as “spreading propaganda against the regime”. He was released in February 2023 after a four-month hunger strike that grew international attention.
Amirsalar Davoudi is an Iranian human rights lawyer born on 21 June 1981. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison and 111 lashes for his human rights work.
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