page_title: Seyed Mostafa Azmayesh
section_title: Human rights efforts in Iran
hierarchical_section_title: Seyed Mostafa Azmayesh / Human rights activities / Human rights efforts in Iran
caption_attribution_description: English: Conference in the European Parliament 2011 - Human Rights Situation in Iran
context_page_description: Seyed Mostafa Azmayesh is a French-Iranian jurist scholar and researcher, with over 40 years of experience as a Quran expert, and is known for his research in the field of Gnosticism, Islam and Christianity. As a human rights activist, his most notable efforts have been towards the push for reform within fundamentalist regimes, such as Iran, and the reform of social or legal practices that are in violation of human rights and freedom of the people. As an academic, he teaches the spiritual path of substantial evolution of an individual based on love, altruism, and spiritual chivalry.
context_section_description: Since the onset of the Iranian Revolution in 1979 and the growth of extremist ideologies under the name of Islam, Azmayesh has worked to oppose those who propagate extremist ideas based on the false interpretation of Islam. His activities have included talks in the United Nations (UN) as well as an exclusive interview with Ahmed Shaheed, the former United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Iran, along with meetings and interviews with members of the European Parliament, who are responsible for covering the Human Rights issues in Iran.
  Through scholarly research he has shown that Human Rights principles are compatible with Quranic principles, and according to the Quran, a Muslim civilisation must be based on mutual respect and equality for all, regardless of race, gender or religious beliefs, and there is no place for any kind of violence. His weekly Radio and online TV programmes, such as Dorr TV, along with the satellite channel PARS-TV, put pressure on extremist elements within the Iranian Regime in order to reform the regimes’ radical movements.
  For many years, Azmayesh has spoken in opposition of the practice of stoning in Iran. Through research-findings, he proved that there is no relation between Islam and stoning, and his research highlighted how several tyrants throughout history have used stoning punishments for reasons of power and suppression. As of 2011, the practice of stoning is no longer practised in Iran as a result of the years of advocacy by Azmayesh.
  In response to the uprising in 2009 following the presidential elections, he supported the Freedom of expression and free speech, and campaigned for the freedom of prominent political prisoners such as Nasrin Sotoudeh (an Iranian female human rights lawyer), Narges Mohammadi, and religious and ethnic minorities such as Kurds, Baha’i and Sufis.
  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.
caption: Speech at European Parliament in 2011 at the Conference on Human Rights in Iran
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