Mothers of Jailed U.S. Hikers Shane Bauer and Sarah Shourd Urge Iran to Release Their Children

Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal, were detained on July 31st after accidentally crossing into Iran while hiking in the mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan. The three are in Iran’s notorious Evin prison.

It’s been more than 200 days since the families of the detained Americans have had any contact with them. Their last consular visit from Swiss diplomats who represent American interests in Iran was in late October and the Iranian lawyer their families asked to represent them has also been refused access. In November Iran’s judiciary announced espionage charges against the three.

But this Tuesday brought a glimmer of hope when Iran’s top human rights official told journalists in Geneva he was considering a request by the families of the three hikers to visit them in prison. Mohammad Javad Larijani said the Iranian Council for Human Rights had recommended that the detained Americans be allowed family visits.

The mothers of the hikers sent a letter to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Monday urging him to allow them to visit their children in prison and help secure their release. They quoted the Archbishop Desmond Tutu who
issued an appeal on their behalf last month: “It is difficult to escape the conclusion that [Shane, Sarah and Josh] continue to be held because they are Americans and not for any legal reason. I urge the Iranian authorities not to deny them their freedom in order to express their discontent with the United States. Nations have a right to disagree but their citizens should not be made to pay the price of their differences.”

Well, I’m joined now here in New York by the mothers of Shane Bauer and Sarah Shourd, two of the three Americans detained in Iran. Shane Bauer is a freelance journalist, whose work has appeared in The Nation, Pacific News Service, and Democracy Now! Sarah Shourd is a teacher and writer and was living in Damascus, Syria with Shane last summer.

Cindy Hickey, mothers of Shane Bauer.

Nora Shourd, and Sarah Shourd.

Related Links

• Free the Hikers Campaign

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