American Hikers Begin Seventh Month of Captivity in Iran

Josh, Sarah and Shane

Today marks the beginning of the seventh month of captivity for three American hikers seized by Iranian forces when they accidentally strayed over the Iraqi-Kurdistan border into Iran last July.

[UPDATE: Watch a Christmas video plea by Sarah Shourd's mother, Nora, asking the Iranian government to free her daughter and the other Americans.]

The families and friends of Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal started Free the Hikers months ago as a way to keep public attention on the plight of the three. Iran has not allowed any communication between the three and their families, or with any Americans, or with their Iranian attorney.

Two Belgian tourists who were released in December after being imprisoned in Iran on suspicion of espionage recently issued a statement expressing concern for the three Americans who they saw while in Evin prison in Tehran.

“We were freed without a trial and hope that the hikers will be freed as soon as possible,” said the two Belgians. “We do not know the current conditions of their detention since we left Evin Prison on December 8, 2009. At that point, they were still in solitary confinement.”

They continued:

The psychological stresses of detention were very great, especially during interrogation and solitary confinement….[we] can only imagine that the pressure they are under to confess to crimes they are innocent of is extremely intense.

The families of the three have issued written requests to the government of Iran to release their children. Some individual family members have made videos containing the same message. But with the seventh month of captivity beginning, the Iranian government has been unmoved by the sometimes tearful pleas of the families of the three hikers.

Shane Bauer

Shane

Shane Bauer grew up in Onamia, MN with his mother, Cindy Hickey, and in San Leandro, CA with his father, Al Bauer. He has two younger sisters, Nicole Lindstrom and Shannon Bauer. Shane has always loved to travel and truly enjoys the outdoors. He graduated with honors from the University of California, Berkeley with a degree in Peace and Conflict Studies and a double minor in Journalism and Arabic in 2007. Shane speaks fluent Arabic and has spent a great deal of time in the Middle East and North Africa during the past 7 years, including living in Damascus, Syria, since the fall of 2008.

Sarah Shourd

Sarah

Sarah Shourd, 31, has been living with Shane in Damascus, where she teaches English and is learning Arabic. She previously taught as part of the Iraqi Student Project, a program which gives Iraqi students living in Damascus the skills to continue their education in US schools. She was on a break from her teaching responsibilities for a week, and she and Shane decided to take a hiking trip with their friends Josh and Shon.

Josh Fattal

Josh

Josh Fattal, 27, is an environmentalist who worked for three years at the Aprovecho Research Center in Cottage Grove, Oregon, which teaches sustainable living skills. From January to June 2009, Josh was a Teaching Fellow with the International Honors Program (IHP) “Health and Community” study abroad program in Switzerland, India, China, and South Africa.

You can help…

Sign the petition calling on Iran to release the three hikers. For more information on how to help, visit the Free The Hikers site, here.