On 2 August 2016, 25 Sunni men were executed in Iran for the vaguely worded crime of “enmity against God” without their families being notified. The authorities issued statements that attributed to the men a range of criminal activities and aired “confession” videos seemingly intended to dehumanize them. Amnesty International’s research shows that Iran’s justice system blatantly violated the men’s right to a fair trial, including their rights to access a lawyer, not to be subjected to torture and other ill-treatment, to remain silent, to have their cases heard in public hearings, and to have a meaningful review of their sentences.
